CAPT.  JOHN   BROWN. 


The  Truth  at  Last     History  Corrected. 


REMINISCENCES 


OP 


OLD  JOHN  BROWN 


THRILLING    INCIDENTS 

OF 

BORDER  LIFE   IN   KANSAS; 

WITH  AN  APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING    STATEMENTS,    AND     FULL    DETAILS    OF   THE    POTTAWOTOMIE  MASSACRE, 

BY  GOV.  CRAWFORD,  COL.  BLOOD,  JAS.  TOWNSLEY,  COL.  WALKER, 

AND    OTHERS,    TO    WHICH    IS    ADDED 

A  REVIEW:   BY  HON,  ELI  THAYER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


BY  GT.  W.  BRO WIST,  M.  13. 

' 


Where  thou  findest  a  lie  that  is  oppressing  thee  extinguish  it.  Lies  exist  only  to  be  extinguished. 
They  wait  and  cry  earnestly  for  extinction.  Think  well,  meanwhile,  in  what  spirit  thou  wilt  do  it: 
not  with  hatred;  not  with  headlong,  selfish  violence;  but  in  clearness  of  heart,  with  holy  zeal, 
gently,  almost  with  pity.— CAKLYLE. 

Let  Truth  and  Falsehood  grapple.  Who  ever  knew  Truth  put  to  the  worse  in  a  free  and  open 
encounter?— MILTON. 


ROCKFORD,    ILLINOIS: 

STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BY  ABRAHAM  E.  SMITH. 


i\ 


Entewl  according  to  Act  of  Oonffress,  in  the  year  1879, 

By   G.  W.  BROWN,  M.  D., 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  ronjrrew,  at  Washinj-ton,  D.  ('. 
[All   Ritrhte  Received.! 


DEDICATION. 


To  the  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  KANSAS,  these  humble  pages  are  respectfully  dedicat 
ed.  They  have  been  written  at  the  request  of  a  distinguished  citizen  of  your  State,  to 
correct  any  errors  that  have  crept  into  jour  early  history,  from  the  carelessness  of  past 
writers,  or  from  their  desire  to  eulogize  esteemed  friends.  I  hope  that  neither  Malice  nor 
Misrepresentation  has  guided  my  pen. 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  early  history  of  all  nations  is  founded  in  myth,  as  is 
that  of  the  world  in  fable.  The  American  States,  though  their  origin  is  so  recent,  are  not 
exceptions;  and  even  Kansas,  \\4th  an  organized  existence  but  little  exceeding  twenty-five 
years,  is  subject  to  a  like  condition.  Already  she  begins  to  substitute  fiction  and  legend  for 
facts.  Alreadv  she  is  weaving  chaplets  to  adorn  the  brows  of  gods  whom  she  has  apothe 
osized.  As  one  of  your  oldest  journalists,  identified  with  all  your  early  history,  and  an 
eye  witness  of  many  of  the  incidents  narrated,  it  seems  highly  proper  that  I  should  aid  you 
in  your  very  laudable  endeavor  to  TRANSMIT  ONLY  TRUTH  TO  POSTERITY. 

Rockford,  III.,  January  15,  1880.  THE  AUTHOR. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Tn  September,  1879,  tne  author  of  these  pages,  by  special  invitation,  attended  the  cele 
bration  of  the  Old  Settlers  of  Kansas,  held  at  Bismarck  Grove,  near  Lawrence,  in  com 
memoration  of  the  >sth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  that  State.  He  heard  repeatedly, 
during  the  two  days  the  convention  was  in  session,  the  principal  character  in  these  pages, 
lauded  as  the  person  of  all  others  to  whom  Kansas  is  indebted  for  her  rescue  from  slavery. 
He  learned  that  a  monument  had  been  erected  to  his  memory,  at  Osawotoinie,  and  that  it 
\\us  proposed  to  send  a  statue  of  him  to  Washington,  to  adorn  the  National  Capitol,  and 
perpetuate  his  renown.  He  saw  all  around  him  the  real  heroes  in  the  strife  ;  those  who 
a  vear  earlier  than  old  John  Brown,  had  settled  in  Kansas  ;  who  had  taken  their  families 
with  them  ;  who  had  sacrificed  everything  but  honor  for  the  triumph  of  a  principle  ;  who 
had  been  genuine  models  of  the  brave  and  true ;  while  in  imagination  he  turned  his  eye 
to  the  cemeterv,  where  the  dead  martyrs  repose,  and  he  inquired  of  himself : — 

"Must  this  state  of  things  always  continue."  Shall  they  who  endured  all  but  death, 
and  who  struggled  successfully  to  the  end,  ever  faithful  to  their  convictions,  be  pushed 
permanently  aside  to  make  room  for  those  who  were  really  destitute  of  merit?  Shall 
Dow,  and  Barber,  and  Hoyt,  and  Shombre,  and  Phillips,  and  the  other  immortal  dead, 
rest  in  unknown  graves,  while  the  towering  shaft,  the  sculptured  marble,  and  the  brightest 
page  of  history  emblazon  the  name  of  him  who  retarded  our  efforts,  threw  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  our  success,  discouraged  honest  endeavor,  and  who  blackened  our  otherwise 
bloodless  escutcheon  with  crime  and  death  ?  Shall  tongue  remain  silent,  and  pen  at  rest, 
while  the  real  actors — the  genuinely  brave — shall  die,  and  their  memories  pass  into  obliv 
ion  ?  No  !  Twenty  years  have  passed  since  old  John  Brown  paid  the  penalty  of  his 
folly  and  wrong-doing  with  his  life  !  The  time  has  come,  if  it  ever  will  come,  when  the 
TRUTH  of  history  must  be  vindicated  ;  when  the  principal  facts  in  his  Kansas  adventures 
ought  to  be  given  to  the  world ;  when  they  who  have  been  crowded  aside  and  treated  as 
non-entities  should  take  the  front,  and  wear  the  garlands  so  long  adorning  dishonored 
brows.  Though  other  duties  are  pressing,  and  my  pen  has  been  idle  for  years,  yet  /  will 
iv  rite  for  preservation*  and  leave  to  those  who  shall  succeed  me,  what  I  know  and  be 
lieve  in  regard  to  old  John  Brown  ! " 

Permeated  with  these  feelings  I  returned  to  my  home,  delighted  with  what  I  had  seen 
of  the  material  prosperity  of  Kansas  ;  gratefui  for  the  cordial  welcome  I  had  received  at 
the  hands  of  my  old  associate*  ;  and  gladdened  at  the  brilliant  future  awaiting  this  infant 
and  central  State  ;  but  mortified  as  I  contemplated  the  wrongs  perpetrated  upon  my  com 
peers,  by  awarding  merit  where  it  did  not  belong,  and  leaving  those  entitled  to  the  true 
meed  of  Fame  to  languish  in  obscurity,  soon  to  pass  into  forgetfulness. 

'A  few  days  after  reaching  home  I  received  a  copy  of  the  Lawrence  Journal,  when  my 
eye  fell  upon  a  marked  article,  and  read  at  the  head  of  it,  "An  Open  Letter  to  Geo.  W. 
Brown,  from  Gov.  Robinson."  "What  have  I  done,"  thought  I,  "that  I  should  be  called 
jo  account  by  Gov.  Robinson  ?"  This  was  the  first  impulse.  I  read,  and  was  startled 
with  his  proposition  !  "Wonder,"  thought  I,  "if  he  had  the  same  feelings  with  myself  at 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWH, 


Bismarck  Grove  ?  Wonder  if,  as  he  looked  over  that  vast  assembly,  as  its  presiding  officer, 
and  back  over  the  darkened  history  of  Kansas,  and  thought  of  the  mouldering  dead  who 
laid  down  their  lives  that  Freedom  might  live,  and  heard  eulogy  on  eulogy,  the  sweet  voice 
of  song,  and  the  loud  trump  of  Fame,  all  enlisted  in  favor  of  a  single  person  whose  name 
is  hardly  worthy  of  preservation, — wonder  if  he  felt  as  I  in  regard  to  that  character  ?" 

I  took  my  pen  and  hurriedly  answered.  The  two  letters, — that  of  Gov.  Robinson,  and 
my  own  in  reply, — are  on  the  following  pages,  and  the  product  of  his  request,  so  far  as 
relates  to  John  Brown,  constitutes  the  substance  of  this  humble  volume. 

I  hope  some  day  to  re-write  it,  and  correct  such  errors  as  my  attention  has  been  or 
may  be  called  to,  by  personal  friends  and  gentlemanly  critics,  or  which  the  malice  of  bitter 
enemies  may  point  out. 


LAVRENCE,  KANSAS,  September  22,  1879. 

DR.  GEO.  W.  BROWN — DEAR  SIR  : — Your  presence  at  the  Old  Settlers'  Gathering,  on 
the  1 5th  and  i6th  instant,  as  well  as  your  intimate  connection  with  every  movement  in 
Kansas,  in  1855,  '56  and  '57,  has  created  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  truth  and 
history,  to  hear  from  you  relative  to  those  critical  times.  The  Historical  Society  is  col 
lecting  data  on  all  matters  of  general  interest,  from  the  actors  in  the  drama,  but  so  far 
has  nothing  from  you.  As  you  were  never  in  office,  and  never  desired  any,  so  far  as  I 
ever  knew,  and  were  never  under  obligations  to  active  participants  in  the  struggle,  your 
testimony  ought  to  be  impartial.  One  subject  seems  just  now  to  be  uppermost  in  the 
minds  of  writers  of  history,  and  that  is,  where  to  place  Gen.  Lane  and  John  Brown.  One 
writer  says  :  "Lane's  actions  and  efforts  in  1856  deserve  the  highest  praise.  *  He  was 
the  only  man  the  people  could  tie  to,"  etc. 

Another  writer  says  :  "If  I  were  to  name  two  men  of  different  tastes  and  ambitions,  to 
whom  Kansas  owes  most  for  her  deliverance  from  the  clutches  of  the  slave  power,  I 
would  mention  James  H.  Lane  and  John  Brown." 

And  another  writer  says  :  "His  services  were  greatly  over-estimated.  He  also  did  a 
great  deal  of  bad.  He  was  the  originator  of  the  corruption  in  politics  that  Kansas  is 
credited  with.  His  forte  was  bulldozing  and  deceit.  He  killed  himself  because  he  under 
took  to  sell  Kansas  out,  but  found  he  could  not  deliver  the  goods." 

Still  another  calls  him,  "the  greatest  liar  of  his  time,"  and  says  he  should  be  held  up  as 
a  warning  to  young  men. 

It  is  plain  that  neither  their  beneficiaries  and  partisan  worshippers,  nor  their  enemies, 
can  be  fully  relied  upon  to  do  full  justice  to  these  men.  A  statement,  to  be  valuable  as 
history,  should  be  unbiased,  with  nothing  extenuated  and  nothing  set  down  in  malice. — 
Can  you  give  such  a  statement,  show  what  policy  these  men  advocated,  tell  whether  the 
people  in  critical  times  followed  their  counsels,  and  if  it  was  by  pursuing  their  lead  and 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


advice,  Kansas  was  aved  from  slavery,  or  the  reverse  ?  This  will  settle  the  question 
of  the  value  of  their  services  better  than  any  amount  of  detraction  by  enemies,  or  fulsome 
laudation  by  friends.  It  is  not  eulogy  nor  censure  that  is  desired,  but  FACTS  for  the 
historian.  Very  Truly,  C.  ROBINSON. 

REPLY. 

ROCKFORD,  ILLINOIS,  October  10,  1879. 

Gov.  CHAS.  ROBINSON: — Yours  of  the  22d  ult.,  which  I  first  saw  in  the  Lawrence 
Journal,  is  at  hand.  You  ask  me  to  furnish  facts  to  enable  the  historian  to  know  where 
to  place  Gen.  Lane  and  John  Brown  in  the  history  of  Kansas.  You  predicate  this  desire 
on  my  "intimate  connection  with  every  movement  in  Kansas  associated  with  her  early 
history,  with  freedom  from  personal  or  party  bias,  and  from  lack  of  obligation  to  any  of 
the  active  participants  in  the  strife." 

,1  went  to  Kansas  in  the  autumn  of  1854,  taking  a  party  of  nearly  three  hundred  with 
me  from  Pennsylvania.  I  also  took  with  me  a  large  printing  establishment,  and  printed 
on  Kansas  soil,  several  days  in  advance  of  any  other,  the  first  Free  State  newspaper 
published  in  that  Territory.  ^ 

My  wife,  father,  mother,  sister,  brother,  and  nearest  friends  accompanied  me.  Our 
object  was  neither  honor  nor  emoluments  ;  but  thoroughly  imbued  with  anti-slavery 
sentiments,  we  went  there  to  make  Kansas  a  Free  State.  That  end  attained,  my  mission 
was  ended.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865,  I  bade  adieu  to  all  my  early  associates  in 
Kansas,  those  with  whom  I  spent  eleven  of  the  best  years  of  my  life,  and  located  in  this 
beautiful  city,  in  Northern  Illinois,  where,  probably,  I  shall  spend  the  residue  of  my  years  ; 
I  trust  in  quiet,  at  peace  with  all  the  world. 

About  a  year  ago  I  received  a  letter  from  Hon.  John  Speer,  stating  that  he  was  about 
to  write  a  biographical  historv  of  Kansas  ;  that  my  name,  with  others,  had  been  selected 
for  a  place  in  its  pages  ;  closing  by  requesting  a  sketch  of  leading  incidents  in  my  life,  for 
publication.  I  wrote  him,  substantially,  in  reply  :  "That  I  had  no  ambition  to  perpetuate 
myself  in  historv  ;  that  1  had  done  the  best  I  knew  to  advance  the  material  interests  of 
humanity  ;  that  I  hud  always  determined  the  world  should  be  better  for  my  having  lived 
in  it;  that  the  stream  of  Time  was  rapidly  flowing  onward  ;  that  in  a  very  few  years  all 
would  reach  the  great  gulf  of  Oblivion,  where  we  should  disappear  together;  and  that  I 
had  no  motive  in  trying  to  float  on  its  darkened  bosom,  conscious  that  in  the  end,  my 
fate  would  be  that  of  every  other  lover  of  his  raee." 

While  this  is  still  my  feeling,  as  regards  myself,  I  recognize  this  fact,  that  "Truth  is  a 
debt  which  every  man  owes  his  neighbor."  1  also  remember  an  axiom,  by  the  "Author- 
Hero  of  the  Revolution,"  that  "Facts  are  but  links  in  the  great  chain  of  truth."  If  there 
are  missing  links  in  the  chain  of  Kansas  historv,  which  1  have  the  ability  to  supply,  con 
nected  as  I  was  with  its  early  settlement,  in  the  capacity  of  a  journalist,  "All  of  which  I 
saw  and  a  part  of  which  I  was."  it  is  my  duty  to  do  so  ;  hence  I  accept  of  your  very  kind 
invitation,  and  will  commence  a  series  of  articles  relating  to  Capt.  John  Brown  in  Kaiisas 
immediately/  That  pertaining  to  Gen.  Lane  I  will  defer  for  a  time. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  state  nothing  but  facts,  as  seen  from  my  own  stand-point ;  will 
answer  any  pertinent  questions  honestly  submitted  with  the  view  of  arriving  at  truth,  and 
will  leave  others  to  make  their  own  deductions  as  to  the  place  the  names  you  mention 
deserve  on  the  scroll  of  Fame.  Your  own  intimate  connection  with  almost  every  event 
in  the  early  history  of  Kansas,  will  enable  you  to  either  corroborate  or  correct  my  state 
ments,  while  impartial  criticism,  and  such  new  light  as  shall  be  thrown  upon  the  subjects 
of  my  sketches  during  their  publication,  will  dispel  much  error,  now  honestly  entertained 
in  regard  to  these  historic  characters.  Very  Truly,  <L  W.  BROWN. 


For  the  better  understanding  of  what 
shall  be  said  in  regard  to  the  subjects  of 
these  inquiries,  it  ma}*  be  well  to  inform 
the  reader  at  the  outset,  that  there  were 
two  classes  of  early  settlers  who  went 
out  to  Kansas  from  the  Northern  States. 
Indeed,  it  seems  just  to  say  there  were 
three  classes. 

The  first  of  these,  and  by  far  the  most 
numerous,  were  those  who  met  the  issue 
squarely  which  was  presented  them  in 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  act.  They  had  no  j  revolution .  Every  opportunity  was 
other  idea  than  to  settle  the  question  by  •  sought  to  influence  the  public  mind,  and 
the  ballot.  In  short,  they  accepted  the  »  incite  a  contest.  Letters  were  written 
doctrine  of  "  popular  sovereignty,'*  as  |  and  books  published  in  their  interest.  It 
enunciated  in  the  organic  law,  and  as  J  required  caution,  coolness  and  great  ac- 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  prohibiting  '  tivity  to  foil  these  workers  of  mischief  in 
slavery  North  of  36  degrees,  was  re-  j  their  many  bloody  schemes.  Actual  set- 
pealed,  and  the  question  was  to  be  set-  .  tiers  and  property  holders  were  constant 
tied  at  the  polls,  their  ambition  was  [  sufferers  because  of  the  excesses  of  these 
to  get  as  many  pioneers  as  pos-  j  men.  When  danger  assailed  the  Terri- 
sible  from  the  free  North,  whose  j  tory,  the  less  brave  of  them  had  business 


Free    State     party,"     and   with    having 
"gone  over  to  the  enemy." 

The  second  class  of  settlers  consisted 
of  a  comparatively  small  number.  They 
made  up  for  this  in  activity ;  were  mostly 
young  men,  without  families  or  homes  of 
their  own.  They  were  literally  "carpet 
baggers."  Their  desire  was  to  embroil 
the  country  in  war.  They  claimed  to  be 
genuine  haters  of  slavery,  but  saw  no 
means  for  its  extinction  save  through 


e  lucation,     prejudices,    instincts,     and 
interests    were    all  for     freedom.    Thia 


in  the  States;  when  all  was  pacific    they, 
would  return,  renew   their  violence,  and 


idea  was  clearly  set  torth  in  the   leading  j  again  away. 

edit  r'al  in  the  first  number  ot  the  Her-  \  And  then  the  third  class:  They  had 
aid  of  Freedom,  edited  and  published  by  !  no  principle  in  the  matter.  They  were 
the  writer,  and  was  the  guiding  principle  j  governed  wholly  by  selfish  interests;  and 
of  that  paper  throughout  the  whole  period  ,  always  acted  with  that  wing  of  the  party 
of  its  publication.  Papers  like  the  Lib-  from  which  at  the  time  they  supposed 
erator,  by  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison;  the  Ant i-  j  they  had  most  to  hope.  We  never  knew 
Slavery  Standard,  under  the  direction  of  where  to  find  them,  or  what  to  expect  at 
Oliver  Johnson;  and  the  Anti-Slavery  •  their  hands.  To-day,  perhaps,  pro-slavery; 
Bugle,  published  at  Salem,  Ohio,  took  |  to-morrow  very  conservative  free  white 
issue  with  these  positions,  and  complain-  ,;  State  Democrats,  and  next  day  rabid  ab 
ed  that  those  who  followed  such  leaders  !  olitionists;  and  thus  varying  through  all 
and  teachings,  were  fighting  the  battles  j  phases  of  the  question,  as  they  supposed 
of  freedom, on  a  low  plane;  that  they  had  j  public  sentiment  had  changed, 
no  right  to  expect  success;  that  defeat  I  I  am  glad  to  say  there  were  but  a  very 
was  inevitable ;  that  it  was  deserved,  and  j  limited  few  who  occupied  these  latter 
that  no  genuine  anti-slavery  man  could  j  positions.  They,  however,  seriously  em- 
co-operate  with  them.  Every  movement  |  barrassud  proper  action  at  times,and  their 


in  the  'direction  of  a  pacific  settlement 
of  our  difficulties  was  scouted,  nn/l  stig 
matized  as  "an  attempt  to  sell  out  the 


influence     on  more   than   one   occasion 
seriously   threatened   the   final  favorable 

result. 


I  was  called  upon  the  next  day  after 
my  Reply  to  Gov.  Robinson,  was  pub 
lished  in  the  GAZETTE,  by  a  gentleman 
of  Rockford,  who  requested  me  to  "Re 
member  that  John  Brown  and  Jas.  H. 
Lane  are  dead,  and  that  I  should  be 
humane  in  the  treatment  of  these  historic 
characters." 

My  recollection  coincided  with  my 
clerical  friend,  in  regard  to  the  death  of 
these  personages,  so  I  replied: 

"I  am  writing  facts  for  history,  and  as 
a  faithful  historian  I  shall  endeavor  not 
to  withhold  anything  because  they  are 
dead,  that  is  necessary  to  a  truthful 
knowledge  of  their  real  characters;  and 
certainly  shall  not  give  anything  from 
malice,  for  I  held  none  towards  either  of 
them  while  living." 

More  than  twenty  years  have  passed 
since  any  of  these  events  I  shall  narrate 
have  occurred.  I  have  not  been  iden 
tified  for  more  than  fourteen  years  with 
Kansas,  her  politics,  individuals,  or  his 
tory.  For  nearly  eleven  years  previous  I 
was  familiarly  intimate  with  nearly  every 
transaction  relating  to  her  early  settle 
ment.  The  Historical  Society  of  Kansas 
is  gathering  up  important  events  con 
nected  with  those  times,for  preservation  in 
her  archives,  before  all  the  actors  in  them 
shall  pass  away.  Gov.  Robinson  is  the 
honored  Chairman  of  that  Society,  and, 
as  such,  asks  me  to  tell  the  truth  in  re 
gard  to  the  connection  of  John  Brown 
and  Gen.  Lane  with  that  history,  f 

Is  it  less  my  duty,  as  a  historian,  to 
tell  the  truth  because  a  man  is  dead? 
There  are  times  when  silence  may  be  ob 
served  ;  but  not  when  truthful  histor  ie 
are  written,  and  good  'and  bad  actions 
alike  pass  in  review.  Biographers,  wish 
ing  to  eulogize  the  heroes  of  whom  they 
write,  usually  suppress  important  facts  in 
regard  to  their  characters,  and  exagger 


ate  others,  until  they  make  demi-gods  of 
very  common  personages./ 

It  was  a  habit  in  a  past  age  to  deify  all 
persons  of  distinction;  and,  it  is  said, 
the  habit  still  prevails  in  semi -civilized 
China.  The  consequence  has  been  that 
many  names  have  come  down  as  worthy 
exemplars  for  our  imitation,  who,  were 
they  living  to-day,  and  practicing  the 
vices  and  crimes  they  were  hourly  perpe 
trating,  we  would  lose  no  time  in  closing 
the  bars  of  a  penitentiary  on  them,  else 
execute  them  on  the  gallows. 

Many  of  our  modern  histories  are  only 
fictions  of  an  idle  brain.  The  authors 
clothe  their  characters  in  habiliments  of 
perfection,  yea,  of  god?,  and  geuu'ns 
merit  is  left  to  languish  and  die  in  ob 
scurity. 

The  writer  bows  to  no  shrine  but  Truth. 
He  has  seen  too  many  heroes  manufac 
tured  from  very  poor  material  to  have  an 
excess  of  love  for  any  of  them.  The 
best  of  characters  had  their  frailties. 
These  must  be  known,  to  judge  correctly 
of  their  worth. 

If  professed  historians  and  biographers 
overdo  their  characters,  it  is  due  the  liv 
ing  that  their  falsehoods  be  corrected, 
and  their  concealments  exposed  to  the 
full  light  of  day. 

In  writing  of  John  Brown  and  Jas. 
H.  Lane,  for  preservation  by  the  Histori 
cal  Society  of  Kansas,  as  before  stated,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  give  the  truth  as  I  saw 
,it.  If  these  facts  add  additional  lustre  to 
their  fame,  it  is  well ;  if  they  detract 
therefrom  it  is  the  misfortune  of  the 
characters  that  they  were  human,  not 
gods,  as  their  biographers,  eulogists  and 
Nromancers  would  have  us  believe. 

Inviting  impartial  criticism  to  every 
thing  herein  said,  we  submit  the  whole 
to  the  candid  consideration  of  a  truth- 
loving  public. 


WM  UMTS  DP  BORDER  UR  IN  KANSAS, 


FIRST    NOTICE   OF  JOHN  BROWN  IN  KANSAS 
HISTORY. 

I  think  it  was  sometime  in  August,   of 
/855,  that  the  proceedings   of  an  "Ultra 
Abolitionist"  convention,  held  somewhere 
in  Central  New  York,    were    first    pub 
lished  in   the    Anti- Slavery      Standard. 
The  convention  was  presided  over  by  the 
Hon.  Gerritt  Smith.      During    the   first 
day  the   report,  as  published,    stated    in 
substance   that  "A  gentleman   standing 
six  feet  in  his  boots,  thin  face,  dark  com 
plexion,  with  flowing  beard,    and  gray 
hair,  lithe  and  straight,  about  sixty  years 
of  age,  arose  and    said :      "That    he  had 
four  sons  in  Kansas,  and  three  others  who 
wished  to  join  them  there,  but  they   had 
not  funds  to  pay  their  way ;  besides,   he 
was  opposed  to  sending  any  person  there 
without  arms ;  that  he  was  a  firm  believer 
in  the  doctrine  that  "Without  the   shed 
ding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission;"  that 
if  the  acrors  in  this  convention  were  ultra 
abolitionists,   as    they  claimed,  and    de 
sired  to  do  something  practical  for  Kan 
sas,  they  would  arm  and  send  his  three  re 
maining  sons  to  Kansas,  and    send  arms 
to  the  boys  already  there;    that    if  they 


would  do  so  he  would  accompany  them, 
and  would  promise  a  good  report  of  their 
doings." 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  following 
day  appeared  the  statement  that  "Ger 
ritt  Smith  presented  to  John  Brown,  in 
open  session,  seven  voltaic  repeaters, 
seven  broad  swords,  seven  muskets  with 
bayonets,  and  a  purse  of  gold ;  and  told 
him  to  go  to  Kansas,  take  his  remaining 
sons  with  him,  arm  them ;  and,  as  he  had 
promised,  make  a  faithful  report  of  hia 
action  there  in  behalf  of  human  freedom, 
and  in  the  cause  of  the  oppressed." 

More  than  twenty-four  years  lie  be 
tween  the  reading  of  those  proceedings 
and  the  present;  but  the  main  facts  are 
indelibly  enstamped  on  my  memory,  and 
why? 

My  father  had  a  brother  by  the  name 
of  John  Brown.  He  removed  to  Western 
New  York,  sometime  between  1810  and 
1815.  The  last  heard  of  him  he  was  a 
Sheriff  in  some  western  county.  In  ^  ar 
resting  a  prisoner  he  received  a  pistol 
shot  in  his  body,  and  kis  physician 
wrote  the  family  he  would  probably  die. 
When  I  read  these  proceedings  I  thought 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


t  possible  the  earnest  John  Brown  was 
the  living  uncle,  and  more  particularly  as 
his  age,  size,  &c.,  generally  coincided 
with  that  of  my  lost  relative,  of  whom  I 
1  ad  often  heard  my  father  speak. 

ACQUAINTANCE   OP  THE   SONS. 

The  Big  Springs  Convention,  where 
the  Free  Stale  party  was  organized,  was 
convened  on  the  5th  of  September,  1855 
I  was  a  delegate,  and  I  think  one  of  the 
secretaries.  In  reading  the  list  of  dele 
gates,  reported  by  the  committee  on 
credentials,  the  names  of  John  Brown,Jr. 
and  Frederick  Brown,  occurred  as  in 
attendance  from  Pottawattomie  Creek. 
I  saw  who  answered  to  the  name  when 
called,  and,  at  my  first  leisure,  made  my 
way  to  John,  Jr.,  and  inquired  it  he  was 
one  of  the  sons  of  John  Brown,  the  ac 
tor  in  the  recent  Abolition  Convention  of 
New  York.  He  answered  in  the  affirma 
tive.  "I  introduced  myself,  had  but  a  few 
words  of  hasty  conversation,  and  found 
that  our  families  were  in  no  way  con 
nected.  He  introduced  me  to  his  brother 
Frederick.  During  recess  we  had  further 
conversation,  and  at  the  close  of  the  con 
vention  they  accompanied  me  to  Law 
rence,  and  remained  at  my  home  over 
night. 

Another  Free  State  Convention  was 
held  at  Topeka,  on  the  19th  and  20th  of 
October,  1855,  where  I  again  met  the 
brothers  John  and  Frederick.  We  stop 
ped  at  the  same  boarding  house  and  John 
and  I  occupied  the  same  bed.  I  am  thus 
definite  that  the  reader  may  understand 
how  and  why  I  became  so  well  acquaint 
ed  with  the  character  of  whom  I  write. 

THE   WAKARUSA     WAR. 

We  pass  to  the  27th  of  November, 
1855,  when  the  tocsin  of  war  was  again 
Bounded  in  Lawrence. 

Chas  W.  Dow,  a  former  employe  in  the 
Herald  of  Freedom  office,  was  killed  by 
F.  M.  Coleman,  some  ten  to  twelve  miles 


south  of  Lawrence,  on  the  21st  of  Novem 
ber,  1855,  growing  out  of  a  disput«  be 
tween  the  parties,  relative  to  a  division 
line  between  their  respective  claims.  He 
was  shot  in  the  back,  while  leaving  a 
blacksmith  shop,where  each  of  the  parties 
had  been  for  work.  Dow  was  boarding 
with  Jacob  Branson,  and  his  body  was 
removed  there.  On  the  26th  of  Novem 
ber,  a  public  meeting  was  held  by  citi 
zens  of  the  neighborhood,  and  resolu 
tions  were  passed  resolving  to  bring 
Coleman,  with  his  accomplices,  Hargus 
and  Buckley,  to  justice.  On  the  same 
day  of  the  meeting,  Harrison  Buckley 
swore  out  a  peace  warrant  against  Bran 
son,  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  S.  J. 
Jones,  who  wrote  himself  "Sheriff  ot 
Douglas  county,"  for  execution. 

Branson's  residence  was  broken  into  by 
a  force  estimated  at  twenty-five,  on  the 
night  of  the  26th,  and  he  was  taken  by  a 
circuitous  route  to  the  crossing  of  the 
Wakarusa,  at  Blanton's  Bridge,  near 
which  he  was  rescued  by  his  neighbors, 
under  the  command  of  S.  N.  Wood,  of 
Lawrence,  who  had  been  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  the  excitement  during  the 
day. 

Jones,  who,  though  "Sheriff  of  Doug 
las  coanty,"  Kansas,  was  at  the  same 
time  Postmaster  at  Westport,  Mo.,  sent 
dispatches  to  Missouri,  and  afterwards 
to  Gov.  Shannon,  whose  headquarters 
were  at  the  Shawnee  Mission,  two  miles 
from  Westport  for  assistance. 

A  proclamation  was  immediate 
ly  issued  by  that  functionary,  stat 
ing  that  Lawrence  was  in  rebellion;  de 
manding  the  people  to  lay  down  their 
arms,  and  calling  upon  the  forces  of  the 
Territory  to  rally  to  the  aid  of  the  Sher 
iff,  and  aid  in  enforcing  his  process.  Mis 
souri,  as  was  her  habit  on  such  occasions, 
responded,  and  an  army  some  2,000  strong 
was  soon  raised,  and  with  shot  guns 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


muskets  stolen  from  the  government  ar 
senal  at  Liberty,  and  whatever  weapons 
they  could  get  hands  on,  with  a  piece  of 
artillery,  moved  on  the  fated  town. 

At  Lawrence  we  were  constantly  ad 
vised,  by  volunteer  messengers,  of  what 
was  transpiring.  A  meeting  of  the  citi 
zens  was  hastily  called,  and  the  facts 
were  stated.  We  knew  that  Missouri  only 
wanted  a  pretext  for  our  entire  extinc 
tion.  A  Committee  of  Public  Safety  was 
immediately  appointed,  consisting  of  ten 
persons,  ot  which  I  had  the  honor  of  be 
ing  a  member.  I  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Territorial  Executive  Committee, as  belore 
stated,  appointed  at  Big  Springs  on 
the  fifth  of  September,  re-indorsed 
at  the  Topeka  Convention  on  the  19th  of 
September,  and  confirmed  by  the  Con 
stitutional  Convention  in  October,  and 
by  a  provision  in  the  Constitution  itself. 
The  Lawrence  meeting  closed  with  the 
appointment  of  that  Committee  of  Pub 
lic  Safety,  which  was  clothed  with  ample 
power  for  the  emergency.  The  Commit 
tee  held  an  immediate  session,  organized 
by  the  election  of  a  Chairman  and  Sec 
retary.  On  my  motion  Dr.  Chas.  Robin 
son  was  made  Commander-in-Chief,  and 
was  empowered  to  appoint  subordinates, 
to  organize  the  forces  of  the  town,  and 
do  whatever  was  necessary  for  the  com 
mon  defense ;  he  to  report  his  action  to 
the  Committee  for  approval.  Provision 
was  made  that  a  quorum  of  the  Commit 
tee,  consisting  of  six  members  at  least, 
should  continue  in  session  until  the  im 
pending  danger  should  pass.  Their 
headquarters,  as  that  of  the  Commander 
and  his  subordinates,  were  in  the  Free 
State  Hotel,  whilst  the  Territorial  Exec 
utive  Committee  held  its  sessions  at  the 
office  of  John  Hutchinson  and  A.  D. 
Searl,~on  the  East  side  of  the  street 
Being  a  member  of  each  Committee,  my 
presence  during  the  day  was  almost  con 
tinually  required  with  one  or  the  other. 


Moments  of  leisure  were  filled  in  writing 
a  daily  journal  of  the  incidents  of  the 
campaign,  which  was  published  in  the 
next  number  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  while  nights  I 
did  service  on  picket. 

The  Commander  dispatched  messen 
gers  to  various  Free  State  settlements 
asking  assistance.  These  requests  were 
promptly  responded  to,  as  all  were  aware 
the  common  fate  would  be  that  of  Law 
rence,  until  some  800  persons  had  assem 
bled,  with  such  rude  arms  as  they  could 
command  for  defense.  Defenses  were 
thrown  up,  sentinels  were  posted,  and 
everything  put  on  a  war-like  appearance. 

JOHN  BROWN  IN   LAWRENCE. 

It  was  near  sunset,  I  should  think 
about  the  3rd  of  December,  when,  in  the 
distance,  towards  the  South,  a  strange 
looking  object  was  seen  approaching  Law 
rence.  With  many  others  I  watched  it.  A? 
it  neared  it  proved  to  be  the  skeleton  of  a 
horse,  covered  with  a  poorly-stuffed  skin, 
wearily  dragging  a  rather  large  one-horse 
lumber  wagon.  I  think  there  were  seven 
men  standing  in  the  box,  which  was  made 
of  wide,  undressed,  and  weather-stained 
boards.  Each  man  supported  himself  by 
a  pole,  of  probably  six  to  eight  feet  in 
length,  surmounted  with  a  bayonet.  The 
poles  were  upright,  and  held  in  place  at 
the  sides  of  the  box  by  leather  loops 
nailed  to  the  sides.  Each  man  had  a  vol 
taic  repeater  strapped  to  his  person,as 
also  a  short  navy  sword ;  at  the  same  time 
supporting  a  musket  at  the  position  of 
"order."  A  formidable  arsenal,  well 
manned— all  but  the  horse. 

As  the  party  dismounted  I  grasped  the 
hands  of  John  and  Frederick  Brown,  who 
introduced  me  to  their  father  and  brothers. 
Leaving  the  horse  unhitched  at  the  door 
I  took  the  whole  family  to  the  rooms  of 
the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  and  in 
troduced  them.  On  my  suggestion  a 
company  of  veterans  was  soon  organized 


s 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


and  the  command  given  to  Old  John 
Brown,  who  he  represented  had  served  as 
a  private  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg,  in 
the  war  of  1812.  [If  this  is  true,  he  was 
but  fourteen  years  of  age,  as  we  see  by 
his  life  he  was  born  May  2,  1800.  The 
battle  of  Plattsburg  was  fought  in  Sept. 
1814.]  My  father,  who  held  a  Captain's 
commission  in  that  war,  and  was  an  ac 
tive  participant  in  the  battle  there,  was 
made  1st  Lieutenant,  and  I  think  O. 
Wilmarth  was  2d  Lieutenant.  The  whole 
company,  as  thus  organized,  consisted  of 
twenty-five  members.  Here,  at  my  sug 
gestion,  John  Brown  was  first  clothed 
with  the  title  of  Captain,  conferred  on 
him  in  the  Wakarusa  war,  by  Gov.  Rob 
inson,  and  approved  by  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety. 

'On  the  9th  of  December  an  under 
standing  was  reached  between  Gov.  Shan 
non,  representing  the  beleagures,  Gov. 
Robinson  and  Col.  Lane,  representing 
the  citizens. 

On  the  10th  the  people  were  mar 
shalled  in  front  of  the  Free  State  Hotel, 
from  the  steps  of  which  Gov.  Shannon 
made  a  short  speech,  in  which  he  stated 
that  matters  had  been  unfortunately  pre 
cipitated  by  their  not  understanding 
each  other,  and  that  he  was  glad  to  have 
a  pacific  termination  of  the  affair.  I  think 
Gov.  Robinson  made  a  few  remarks  in 
the  same  direction.  It  was  at  this  stage 
of  procedure,  when  old  John  Brown 
mounted  a  piece  of  timber  lying  near 
the  corner  of  the  hotel,  and  began  to 
harangue  the  crowd.  He  said  the  peo 
ple  of  Missouri  had  come  to  Kansas  to 
destroy  Lawrence;  that  they  had  be- 
leagured  the  town  for  two  weeks,  threat 
ening  its  destruction  ;  that  they  came  for 
blood  ;that  he  believed, "Without  the  shed 
ding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  ;"  and 
asked  for  volunteers  to  go  under  his 
command,  and  attack  the  pro-slavery 
camp  stationed  near  Franklin,  some  four 
ni'es  from  Lawrence. 


Listening  to  his  speech  to  this  point  I 
made  my  way  to  the  room  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Public  Safety,  where  others 
came  immediately,  leaving  -the  Captain 
trying  to  excite  insubordination.  Col. 
G.  W.  Smith  was  instructed  by  the  Com 
mittee  to  place  him  under  arrest,  and  de 
tain  him  in  custody  until  the  excitement 
should  cease.  Col.  Smith  made  his  way 
direct  to  the  Captain,  took  him  by  the 
arm,  and  requested  to  speak  with  him. 
Leading  the  Captain  away,  the  storm 
that  he  was  i  citing  was  soon  at  an  end. 

Gov.  Shannon  issued  orders  sending 
his  posse  back  to  their  homes.  ^  That 
night,  the  14th  of  December  a  "Norther" 
broke  upon  their  camp,  the  coldest  I 
ever  recollect  in  Kansas,  when  the  bcseig- 
ers,  under  duplicate  orders — Gov.  Shan 
non  and  a  frigid  north — made  a  hasty 
and  bloodless  retreat  to  Missouri.  Capt. 
Brown,  his  sons  with  their  military  sup 
plies,  the  over-burdened  wagon,  and  the 
venerable  horse  also  retired  from  their 
first  field  of  glory. 

Red  path  says,  page  88  of  his  Life  of 
Brown,  that 

"He  went  out  once  with  a  dozen  men 
to  meet  the  Missouri  invaders  'to  draw  a 
little  blood,' as  he  styled  it — but,  at  the 
earnest  entreaties  of  Gen.  Lane,  he  re 
turned  to  town  without  doing  it." 

"Lane  sent  for  him  to  attend  a  council 
of  war.  The  reply  was  characteristic  of 
the  brave  old  man,  who  despised  all  man 
ner  of  assumptions,  with  no  fact  behind 
them  to  give  them  vitality,  and^  a  title  to 
respect." 

"  Tell  the  General,'  he  said,  'that  when 
he  wants  me  to  fight,  to  say  so;  but  that 
is  the  only  order  I  will  ever  obey.'  " 

If  Redpath's  assertions  are  true,  thai 
the  Captain  "despised  all  manner  of  as 
sumption  with  no  facts  behind  to  give 
them  vitality,"  he  would  have  -been  ter 
ribly  disgusted  with  that  statement,  aa 
with  nearly  the  entire  mass  of  simila 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


ones  made  in  that  eulogy  of  John  Brown, 
erroneously  called  a  "Life." 

CAPT.  CHARLIE    LENHART. 

These  Recollections  would  be  very   in 
complete  without  reference  to   Charley 
Lenhart,   as      he    was    a    junior    John 
Brown,  minus  the  latter's  principles  and 
piety.       Charley       came     to     Kanaas 
from    Iowa,   where  he   left   a   widowed 
mother,  in  the  spring  of  1855.       He   was 
then  18  to  19  years  of  age.      He   applied 
for  a  situation  as  typo  in  the   Herald  of 
Freedom  office.   1  grave  him  a  "case,"  and 
agreed  to  board  him  in  my  family,   con 
ditioned  he  could  find  lodging  elsewhere. 
To  this   he    assented,     and  commenced 
type-setting.     He  was  a  faithful  worker, 
always  at  his  post,  but  proved  quite  lim 
ited  in  experience  as  a  practical  printer 
As  I  paid  by  the  thousand  for  his   labor 
this  did  not  affect  me,  so  he  continued, 
aUays  the  first  at  the   case  in  the   morn 
ing,  and  the  last  to  leave  at  night. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  '55,  during  a 
cold  driving  '-Norther,"  accompanied 
with  rain,  he  asked  the  privilege  of  lying 
on  the  floor  in  the  office  for  the  night.  I 
thought  the  request  a  strange  one,  and 
inquired: 

"Why  don't  you  remain  where  you 
have  been  through  the  summer?"  He 
replied — 

"The  roof  is  rather  leaky,"  looking  out 
at  the  driving  storm. 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  have 
been  sleeping  out  of  doors  through  the 
summer?" 

"Every  night  since  I  have  been  in  your 
service,  I  have  slept  on  the  open  prairie, 
and  could  do  so  to-night,  but  don't  like 
to." 

"That  will  not  be  necessary,"  I  re 
plied.  "Had  you  reported  the  fact  to  me 
I  could  have  made  provision  for  you 
long  ago." 

From  that  time  until  he  left  my  em 
ploy,  Charley  had  a  bed  in  doors.  The 


colloquy  explained  why  he  had  al 
ways  disappeared  late  at  night,  with  a 
blanket,  and  was  so  early  at  his  post  in 
the  morning.  Justice  to  Kansas  climate 
requires  me  to  say,  that  during  all  that 
season  he  was  reposing  on  the  lap  of 
mother  earth,  with  the  stars  to  look  up 
on,  and'the  green  grass  a  pillow,  protect 
ed  from  the  night  dews  by  a  single 
blanket  only,  he  was  a  picture  of  perfect 
health. 

Charley  did  faithful  service  for  Kansas 
during  the  Wakarusa  war,  in  the  fall  of 
'55,  but  from  that  forth  I  could  not 
count  on  him  with  certainty.  If 
there  was  any  wild  adventure  on  foot  he 
was  the  leader,  and  awav ! 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Herald  oj 
Freedom  office  in  '56,  Lenhart  seemed  to 
have  adopted  a  guerilla  life,  and  I   only 
heard  of  him  through   others   thereafter. 
He  appeared  intimate   with   both    Lano 
and  Brown,  and  held  himself  ever   ready 
to  execute  their  wishes.       His   associates 
were  of  the  dare-devil    stripe,   of  which 
John  E.  Cook  was  a  representative.     He 
was  fearless  and  brave,   and    always   in 
sympathy  with   the  fighting  Free    State 
men.     Like  old  John,  he  required   large 
"contributions"  from  Ihe  enemy,  and  dis 
appeared   with    his   patron  saint    in  the 
autumn  of    1859,    since  which    I  think 
there  is  no   intelligence  of  him.     It  was 
reported  he  was  shot  under  the   walls  of 
the  prison  at  Charlestown,   Va.,   wherein 
Brown  was    imprisoned,    and  where  he 
was  reconnoitering  with  a  view  of  effect 
ing  the  Captain's  escape. 

About  1864,  a  gentleman  who  knew 
Charley's  mother  well,  in  Iowa,  called  on 
me  hoping  to  get  some  information  in 
regard  to  him,  he  stating  that  after  he 
left  the  Herald  of  Freedom  office,  she  nev 
er  heard  again  from  him  by  letter. 

PERSONAL  TO  THE  WRITER. 

The  following  facts  concerning  tha 
writer,  explains  somewhat  incidents 


10 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


closely  connected  with  these  Reminiscen 
ces,  and  seem  necessary  to  understand 
\vhat  shall  follow.  He  would  be  glad 
to  keep  in  the  back-ground,  but  cannot 
comprehend  how  he  can  give  his  recollec 
tion  of  events,in  which  he  was  an  actor  in 
common  with  the  persons  of  whom  he 
writes,  without  occupying  a  front  posi 
tion  with  them. 

So  many  outrages  had  been  perpetrat 
ed  on  property  in  transit  up  the  Mis 
souri,  and  at  Kansas  City,  destined  to 
Kansas,  as  also  upon  persons  making 
their  way  to  the  Territory,  that  a  public 
meeting  was  held  at  Lawrence,  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  Emigrant  Aid  Com 
pany's  building,  on  Massachusetts 
street,  on  the  evening  of  the  28th 
of  March,  1856.  Speeches  were 
made,  numerous  instances  of  out 
rages  were  narrated,  among  others  the 
breaking  open  of  a  box  at  Kansas  City, 
containing  a  piano,  directed  to  Orville 
C.  Brown,  of  Osawatomie,  under 
the  pretense  of  its  containing  Sharp's 
rifles.  Resolutions  denouncing  the  oc 
currences  were  passed,  and  a  committee 
%vas  appointed,  consisting  of  E.  Nute,  G. 
W.  Brown,  and  G.  W.  Hutchinson,  with 
instructions  to  visit  St.  Louis,  Alton,  Chi 
cago,  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg,  and  to 
make  all  needful  arrangements  for  the 
establishment  of  a  trusty  line  of  steam 
ers,  to  leave  some  safe  point  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  land  in  Kansas. 

I  left  home  in  obedience  to  these  in 
structions,  in  advance  of  the  other  mem 
bers  of  the  committee  on  the  1st  of 
April,  descended  the  Missouri,  and  heard 
much  en  route  of  a  contemplated  raid  on 
Lawrence  "  as  soon  as  the  grass  shall 
grow." 

At  Alton  I  called  a  public  meeting,  and 
elicited  great  enthusiasm  among  business 
men,  in  the  enterprise.  Going  to  Chica 
go,  I  made  arrangements  in  that  city  for 
a  public  meeting  a  few  evenings  after. 
My  name  having  been  published  in  the 


list  of  "  arrivals,"  Jas.  Redpath,  being  in 
the  city,  saw  the  notice,  and  called  on  me 
at     the      Treinont.        He      stated      he 
was  on   his  way    to  Kansas   and  wished 
to  borrow  a  revolver.      As  the  history 
of  that  revolver,    which    I   loaned  him, 
will  form  my  next  sub-division,   I   will 
hasten    to  close  my  own  connection  with 
these  incidents  by  stating  that  soon  after 
I  visited  Rockford,  talked  to  a  good  audi 
ence  in  Warner's  Hall,  on  the  night  after 
the  municipal    election,    while   bonfires 
and  rejoicings  were  going  on  outside  over 
the    election  of  Jas.  L.  Loop  as  Mayor. 
Thence  I  started  for  Chicago  to   fill   my 
engagements    there;  was   taken    with  a 
congestive  chill  in  the  cars,  and  was   al 
most  death  sick  all  day.    Again   stopped 
at  the  Tremont,  was    carried    almost  by 
force  from  my  sick  bed   to  Market   Hall, 
[was    it?]    where    I     was    requested   to 
"show"  myself,  but  at  which,  in  addition, 
with   a  raging  fever,   I    spoke   over   an 
hour    on    Kansas    matters,    and    of  the 
causes  of  a  movement  for  a  direct  line  of 
steamers  to  that  Territory.     What  I  said, 
or  how  I  said  it,  I  never  had  any  recol 
lection,   for    I    was    suffering  too  much 
physically  to  hardly  know  anything.   The 
next  day   I  took  passage   for  the   Lake 
View  Water  Cure,  where  I   remained  five 
days.     When     sufficiently    recovered  to 
journey,  I  returned  to  Chicago,  and   was 
about  starting  for  Cincinnati,    when  my 
eye  fell  upon   a  telegram  in  the  Demo 
cratic  Press,  bringing  intelligence  of  the 
shooting   at    Lawrence    of  "S.  J.  Jones, 
Sheriff  of  Douglas  county."  I  changed  my 
direction,   went   to   Alton;   thence  to  St. 
Louis;  chartered   a  stt-amer   at   my  own 
risk;  and    returned    with    it    to   Alton, 
where   I   received  a   party  of  about,,  one 
hundred  Michigan  pioneers,  on  their  way 
to  Kansas,  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  A. 
St.  Clair;  thence  up  the  river;  at  Lexing 
ton  learned  of  the  arrest,   by   a   mob,  of 
Gov.  Robinson  at  that  place  the  day  pre 
vious;    on    to    Kansas  City;  besieged  a 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


11 


couple  of  days  by  a  mob  which  surround 
ed  the  hotel,  but  did  not  enter;  thence 
started  at  night  with  Gaius  Jenkins  for 
Lawrence;  both  captured  in  going  half  a 
mile;  taken  to  the  Harris  House,  at 
Westport,  Mo.,  prisoners;  an  ex  parte 
trial  for  our  lives  by  the  ruffians,  who 
finally  sent  us  to  the  Territory  under 
Henry  Clay  Pate,  I  arriving  at  Lecompton 
on  the  ;20th  of  May,  the  day  before  the 
destruction  of  Lawrence  by  the  semi 
legal  mob.  This  much,  hurriedly,  for 
myself,  to  make  what  shall  follow  better 
understood. 

HISTORY    OF   A    REVOLVER. 

Mr.  Redpath  was  instructed,  on  his  ar 
rival  in  Lawrence,  to  leave  the  revolver 
mentioned  above,  which  was  an  Allen 
patent,  known  as  a  "pepper  box,"  on  the 
border,  with  MibS  Aunis  W.  Gleason, 
the  clerk  in  the  Herald  of  Freedom  office. 
He  did  so. 

About  this  time  a  new  attempt  was  set 
on  foot  to  arrest  S.  N.  Wood,  for  the  res 
cue  of  Branson,  in  the  autumn  previous. 
The  "  grass  had  begun  to  grow,"  and  the 
threats  I  heard  when  descending  the  Mis 
souri  were  about  to  be  executed. 

"  Sheriff  Jones,''  with  a  posse  of  United 
States  troops,  entered  Lawrence,  and 
camped  on  the  night  of  the  23d  of  April 
in  canvas  tents,  a  little  North-east  of  the 
Herald  of  Freedom  building,  on  some 
open  lots. 

Early  in  the  evening  Charley  Lenhart 
called  on  Miss  Gleason,  and  asked  for 
the  loan  of  a  revolver.  The  one  returned 
by  Redpath,  mentioned  above,  was  passed 
to  him,  with  no  idea,  on  her  part,  of  the 
uses  he  desired  to  put  it  to.  He  exam 
ined  the  weapon,  saw  it  was  fully  loaded; 
went  in  the  direction  of  Jones'  camp ; 
was  gone  but  a  few  minutes,  when  Miss 
G.  heard  the  discharge  of  a  revolver,  and 
Boon  Charley  came  running  back  to  the 
office.  He  passed  her  the  wicked  instru 
ment,  one  barrel  of  which  was  dis 
charged.  She  put  it  away,  and  learned 


almost  immediately  thereafter  of  the 
shooting  of  "  Sheriff  Jones,"  the  first 
blood  actually  drawn  by  Free  Soil  men  in 
Kansas,  and  which  transaction  was  deeply 
regretted  by  every  sincere  friend  of  the 
Free  State  cause.  A  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  was  held  the  next  morning  de 
nouncing  the  event,  and  a  reward  of 
$500  was  offered  by  Gov.  Robinson,  for 
the  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  offender 
in  the  United  States  District  Court- 
Charley  was  strongly  suspected  of  know 
ing  something  of  the  matter ;  but  this  is 
probably  the  first  published  account  of 
it.  He  has  long  been  beyond  the  reach 
of  those  who  would  punish  him,  and  now 
I  only  give  it  publicity,  that  the  praise 
or  censure  may  fall  where  it  rightfully 
belongs. 

Jones  recovered   from  his   injury,   and 
on  the    21st    of    the    following    month, 
made  the  people  oi  Lawrence  realize,    as 
I  experienced  to   my   own  sorrow,   with 
many  others,  the  truth  of  the   following 
quotation  from  Byron's  Mazeppa: 
There  never  yet  was  human  power, 
Which  coal d  evade,  if  unfcrgiven, 
The  patient  search  and  vigil  long 
Of  him  who  treasures  up  a  wrong! 

Three   other   exoiting    incidents   were 

connected  with  that  revolver,  either  of 
which  would  form  a  valuable  chapter  in  a 
"blood  and  thunder  novel."  The  follow 
ing,  being  historic,  will  conclude  its 
story ;  anticipating  somewhat  the  order 
of  events : — 

Dr.  John  Doy  was  captured  in  Mis 
souri,  charged  with  aiding  in  the  escape 
of  slaves.  He  was  taken  to  St.  Joseph, 
Mo.,  and  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail, 
awaiting  trial.  During  that  period,  the 
writer,  was  called  upon  for  the  loan  of  a 
revolver.  It  was  passed  to  the  party.  A 
few  days  later  news  came  of  the  break 
ing  of  the  jail  at  St.  Jo.,  on  the  night  of 
the  23d  of  July,  1859;  the  rescue  of  Doc 
tor  D.;  and,  soon  after,  was  informed  of 
the  transactions  by  one  of  the  actors,  of 
which  I  had  no  previous  intimation,  and 


12 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


of  the  loss  overboard,  while  crossing  the 
river  in  the  darkness  of  night,  of  the 
identical  weapon  fired  by  Lenhart,  at 
"Sheriff  Jones."  Had  Jones  died,  and 
the  ancient  English  law  of  deodand  been 
still  in  force,  that  revolver  could  not 
now  be  taken  for  "pious  uses."  It  re 
poses  beneath  the  turbid  waves  of  the 
Missouri. 

SACKING  OF    LAWRENCE— ARREST  OF  FREE 
STATE  PRISONERS. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  1856,  Lawrence 
was  sacked,  as  before  stated,  by  a  pro- 
slavery  mob,  called  together  by  United 
States  Marshal  Donaldson.  His  posse, 
as  he  called  them,  were  then  disbanded, 
and  passed  over  to  Sheriff  Jones,  who 
had  mostly  recovered  from  the  effects  of 
Charley  Lenhart's  bullet.  The  Free 
State  Hotel  was  demolished.  It  was  a 
fine  stone  structure,  fully  completed  and 
furnished,  and  was  opened  on  that  very 
day,under  the  auspices  of  S.  W.  Eldridge, 
to  the  public.  The  residence  of  Gov. 
Robinson  was  burned,  with  his  furniture 
and  fine  library.  The  Herald  of  Freedom 
office  was  destroyed,  its  types  were 
thrown  into  the  river,its  two  hand  presses, 
and  a  small  cylinder  fast  running  Taylor 
Power  Press,  were  broken,  and  a  large 
library  and  heavy  stock  of  paper  were 
cut  to  pieces  or  carried  away.  The  Free 
State  office  and  entire  contents  met  a 
similar  fate.  The  town  was  overrun  and 
pillaged  by  the  lawless  invaders.  They 
were  not  resisted,  because  the  Marshal 
had  come  under  the  pretext  of  executing 
legal  process  from  a  United  States  Court. 
It  was  well  known  that  this  was  a  plan 
of  the  pro-slavery  leaders,  hoping  to 
bring  on  a  collission  between  the  Free 
State  people  and  the  federal  government. 
They  had  already,  before  a  packed  Grand 
Jury,  made  up  of  South  Carolinians, 
Missourians  and  southerners,  all  but  a 
few  days  in  the  Territory,  procured  in 
dictments  for  high  treason  against  A.  H. 


Reeder,  Chas.  Robinson.  G.  W.  Brown, 
G.  W.  Smith,  G.  W.  Deitzler,  and  Sam 
uel  C.  Pomeroy.  The  latter's  name  was 
erased, and  the  name  of  Gaius  Jenkins  was 
interlined.  This  was  done  long  after 
the  Grand  Jury  adjourned. 

Gov.  Robinson  had  been  captured  by  a 
mob  at  Lexington,  Mo.,  nine  davs  before, 
while  with  his  wife  going  down  the  Mis 
souri  ;  G.  W.  Brown  was  captured  on  the 
14th  of  May,  by  residents  of  Missouri, 
without  legal  process,  in  Kansas  City, 
while  making  his  way  to  Lawrence.  He 
reached  Lecompton  on  the  20th,  Mr.  Jen 
kins  being  with  him  when  arrested,  but 
was  discharged  on  the  evening  of  the 
19th,  and  re-arrested  on  the  21st,  with 
Judge  Smith  and  Col.  Deitzler,  all  of 
whom  were  placed  under  guard  in  the 
same  room  with  myself,  at  Lecompton. 
Gov.  Robinson  was  started  for  the  Terri 
tory,  and  reached  Franklin,  within  four 
miles  of  Lawrence.  His  captors,  fearing 
a  rescue,  took  him  back  to  Kansas  City 
thence  to  Leavenworth,  where  he  ar 
rived  on  the  24th  of  May. 

Mention  is  made  of  these  facts  that  the 
reader  may  keep  connectedly  in  mind 
the  general  condition  of  affairs  at  the 
period  referred  to;  without  any  intention 
of  entering  into  details. 

HORRIBLE     MURDERS  ON    THE   POTTAWOT- 
OMIE. 

l)n  Sunday,  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
25th  of  May,  '56,  information  was  given 
to  the  treason  prisoners,  at  Lecompton, 
of  which  the  writer  had  the  honor  of  be 
ing  one,  that  a  terrible  massacre  of  pro- 
slavery  men  had  been  perpetrated  on 
Pottawotornie  creek;  that  the  news  had 
reached  the  Kickapoo  Rangers,  Atchison 
Tigers,  and  such  other  pro-slavery  organ 
izations  as  were  still  about  Locompton, 
after  their  successful  raid  of  the  21st  on 
Lawrence.  The  excitement  was  report 
ed  ?,  ry  high  among  them. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


13 


On  the  evening  of  the  25th  Marshal 
Donaldson  entered  the  building  in  per 
son,  and  said  that  a  party  were  organiz 
ing  among  the  Rangers,  Tigers, 
&c.,  to  take  the  prisoners  and  hang  them 
in  retaliation  for  theee  murders.  He  said 
he  had  learned  that  we  were  all  Odd 
Fellows  or  Masons;  that  he  had  so  re 
ported;  and  besides  enlisting  all  the 
Territorial  officers,  including  the  Govern 
or,  Judges,  &c.,  and  such  members  of  the 
Orders  as  he  could  find  in  Lecompton,  he 
had  found  some  in  the  several  compan 
ies,  and  with  these  he  hoped  to  be 
able  to  save  us ;  that  they  should  stand 
guard  through  the  night,  and  if  an  attack 
was  made  he  should  place  arms  in  our 
hands,  that  we  might  aid  in  our  own 
defense. 

The  guard  was  kept  up  for  the  night. 
The  next  day  the  Marshal's  "posse" 
were  again  discharged,  and  left  Lecomp 
ton;  but  Donaldson  himself  remained 
with  us  in  the  room  for  the  night,  for  our 
protection  against  contingencies,  as  he 
asserted. 

DETAILS   OF   THE    MASSACRE. 

My  pen  is  not  capable  of  describing 
the  horrors  of  that  event.  Death  by  the 
hand  of  violence  is  always  terrible;  com 
mitted  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  adds  ad 
ditional  terrors  to  it;  but  when  the  bodies 
are  fiendishly  mutilated, with  awful  impre 
cations  on  the  authors  of  such  transac 
tions,  we  recall  to  memory  the  most  san 
guinary  deeds  of  American  savages.  The 
murderer,  stimulated  to  crime  by  passion, 
or  led  on  by  hopes  of  gain,  may,  under 
some  circumstances,  arrest  our  sympa 
thy;  but  he  who  mutilates  the  dead 
body  of  his  victim,  whether  a  Col.  Chiv- 
ingtou,  or  his  command,  revelling  in  the 
blood  of  his  victim;  a  Modoo  chieftan, 
taking  vengeance  on  an  enemy,or  the  In 
quisition,  with  rack  and  torture,  tearing 
liml»  from  limb  from  the  writhing  and 
dying  heretic,  must  only  excite  our  ab 
horrence. 


We  charge  no  one  with  these  outrages 
upon  humanity.  Our  province  istostaU 
the  facts,  and  leave  the  reader,  or  tbo 
historian,  to  make  his  own  deductions. 

That  five  persons  were  killed,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Potto w atomic, 
some  time  towards  the  last  ot  May,  1856, 
is  not  susceptible  of  a  doubt.  The 
sworn  evidence  of  several  witnesses  fixes 
the  time  as  the  morning  of  the  25th  of 
May,  but  other  facts  fix  the  time  as  late 
on  the  night  of  the  23d,  and  the 
morning  of  the  24th,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  adopt  the  latter  dates.  No  person 
has  ever  denied  the  murders,  and  the  ex 
act  date  is  not  necessary.  These  men 
were  taken  from  their  homes  during  the 
darkness  of  night,  one  from  the  bed  of 
a  sick  wife,  unable  to  help  herself,  and 
was  found  the  next  morning  ''about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  house, 
in  some  dead  brush,"  *  *  with  "a 
gash  in  his  head  and  side,  *  *  and 
his  throat  cut  twice."  Another  was 
found  in  a  creek  near  his  residence.  His 
"skull  was  split  open  in  two  places,  and 
some  of  his  brains  were  washed  out  by 
the  water.  A.  large  hole  was  cut  in  his 
breast,  and  his  left  hand  was  cut  off,  ex 
cept  a  little  piece  of  skin  on  one  side." 

A  father  and  two  sons, 
additional  to  the  above,  were 
massacred,  and  found  "about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  house, 
in  the  grass,  near  a  ravine."  The  "father 
was  shot  in  the  forehead  and  stabbed  in 
the  breast."  One  of  the  son's  "head  was 
cut  open,  and  a  hole  was  made  in  his  jaw, 
as  though  it  was  made  by  a  knife,  and  a 
hole  also  in  his  side."  Another  son  was 
found  with  his  "fingers  cut  off,  and  his 
arms  were  cut  off;  his  head  was  cut  open ; 
there  was  a  hole  in  his  breast." 

The  above  passages,  in  quotation,  are 
copied  verbatim  from  affidavits  made  by 
witnesses  who  saw  the  terrible  sight; 
who  swore  to  the  statements  before  legal 


14 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


authority;  it  was  published  soon  nl'tcr; 
was  accessible  to  everybody;  and  yet,  so 
far  as  we  know,  there  has  never  been  a 
denial  of  the  killing,  or  of  the  mutilation 
by  any  party  who  was  trying  to  tell  the 
truth. 

Win.  A.  Phillips,  a  sensational  corres 
pondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  who 
published  in  1856,  a  volume  of  414 
pages,  entitled  "The  Conquest  of  Kan 
sas,"  page  316,  writing  of  this  tragedy, 
says:  "It  was  one  of  those  stern  and 
remorseless  acts  in  civil  war  which  make 
the  delicate  and  sensitive  shrink."  This 
work  was  published  as  a  campaign  docu 
ment,  in  the  presidential  election  of 
that  year,  in  the  interest  of  his  party. 
While  he  did  not  deny  the  murders 
he  does  say:  "The  frightful  stories 
about  mutilation  were  unfounded,  as  ap 
plied  to  this  affair.  A  Mr.  Sherman, 

WHO  WAS  KILLED  AT  THAT  TIME, 

was  killed  by  the  Camanches,  he  hav 
ing  gone  out  to  the  plains  to  hunt  Buf 
falo.  The  Indians  not  only  killed  him, 
but  mutilated  his  body;  and  his  friends 
when  they  found  his  body,  brought  it 
home  to  Pottowatomie.  The  pro-slavery 
men  in  the  neighborhood  took  advantage 
of  this  circumstance  to  confound  this  af 
fair  with  the  other,  and  charge  it  upon 
the  abolitionists!  and  it  afforded  a  fine 
theme  for  war  extras  along  the  Missouri 
frontier.  Free  State  men,  too,  believing 
tlie  worst  pro-slavery  version  of  it,  held 
meetings  and  denounced  it." 

I  cannot  believe  that  Mr.  Phillips 
ever  wrote  that  part  of  the  above  which 
charges  the  offense  upon  the  Camanches. 
It  is  an  interpolation,  and  a  libel  upon 
these  savages,  put  in  by  the  publishers, 
to  avoid  responsibility  by  Free  State  men 
for  such  a  terrible  affair.  This  is  evi 
denced  by  the  awkwardness  of  the  lan 
guage,  which  is  unlike  Mr.  Phillips' 
round,  easy  style;  besides,  the  killing  is 
described  as  occurring  at  the  time  these 


other  men  were  slaughtered.  And  yet 
we  must  hold  Mr.  Phillips  responsible 
for  the  statement,  as  he  has  ne  er  denied 
its  paternity,  and  it  is  in  a  book  claimed 
to  be  written  by  him. 

Such  "savage  barbarity  and  demoniac 
cruelty,"  as  a  prominent  politician  sa  d 
ot  the  event,  practiced  not  only  on 
Win.  Sherman,  but  on  Allen  Wilkenson, 
Jas.  P.  Doyle,  Drury  Doyle  and  Wm. 
Doyle,  are  certainly  characteristic  of 
North  American  savages;  and  I  honor 
the  author  for  his  attempt,  feeble  as  it 
was,  to  throw  the  responsibility  foi  one 
of  these  cases  of  mutilation  on  one  of  the 
most  violent  tribes  of  the  plains;  but  I  have 
quoted  in  confirmation  of  the  mutilation 
of  these  men,  from  affidavits  made  before 
a  member  of  the  Kansas  Investigating 
Committee,  appointed  by  resolution  of 
Congress  to  inquire  into  all  our  Kansas 
troubles.  These  affidavits  will  be  found, 
spread  at  length  on  pages  1,193,  94,  95, 
96,  97,  98  and  99,  of  their  official  report 
made  to  Congress,  20,000  extra  copies  of 
which  were  printed  and  scattered  over 
the  country.  The  huge  volume  of  over 
1,200  pages  is  open  before  me  as  I  write, 
and  from  which  I  shall  have  occasion 
again  to  make  extracts,  in  endeavoring 
to  find  who  these  murderers  and  muti 
lating  Camanches  were!  Would  to 
heaven  the  truth  of  history  would  per 
mit  me  to  throw  the  veil  of  darkness 
over  this  awful  tragedy,  and  allow  the 
world  to  believe  that  not  only  Wm. 
Sherman,  but  his  associates  in  death  and 
mutilation  on  that  fearful  night  died  by 
the  hands  of  Camanches !  But  we  must 
seek  elsewhere  for  the  real  murderers. 

INCIDENTS  OF  HISTORY.         'Sf 

To  leara  the  truth  in  regard  to  this 
tragedy,  let  us  hurriedly  state  a  few  facts 
that  followed  the  sacking  of  Lawrence, 
on  the  21st  of  May,  three  or  four  days 
before  the  massacre.  News  had  gone 
out  from  Lawrence,  into  all  the  Free 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


15 


Stnte  settlements,  of  the  assembling  of 
large  bodies  of  pro-slavery  men  around 
that  il! -fated  town.  The  whole  South 
seemed  pouring  her  swarms  of  idle  and 
dissolute  population  into  Kansas.  Col. 
Buford  was  there  with  his  South  Caro 
linian  followers;  Col.  Titus  was  there 
with  his  Florida  cohorts;  Col.  Bell  was 
there  with  his  "fillibusters"  indiscrimi 
nately  raised  in  the  South;  the  two 
Stringfellows  were  there  with  their  Mis 
souri  rabble;  and  all  were  working  in 
harmony  under  the  lead  of  that  master 
demagogue,  Dave  Atchison,  who  fur 
nished  brains  for  the  whole. 

The  Free  State  men  had  witnessed  the 
invasion  of  Kansas,  on  the  29th  of  No 
vember,  1854,  at  the  first  election  for  a 
delegate  to  Congress,  when  they  poured 
over  from  Missouri,  took  possession  of 
the  polls,  and  cast  their  votes  for  Gen. 
Whitfield,  excluding  the  Free  State  set 
tlers  almost  wholly  from  participation  in 
the  election. 

^JThey  saw  this  again  on  the  30th  of 
March,  1855,  at  the  election  of  members 
of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  when  the 
invaders  came  by  thousands,  overran  every 
election  precinct  but  one  in  the  Terri 
tory,  excluded  the  legally  appointed 
judges  of  election,  placed  their  servile 
tools  in  their  places,  driving  away  the 
legal  voters,  and  elected  some  of  their 
own  numbers  to  make  laws  for  the  resi 
dents. 

_  The  people  saw  these  invaders  again, 
in  session  at  Pawnee;  thence  adjourned 
to  the  Shawnee  Mission,  a  locality  posi 
tively  "  excepted  out  of,  and  made  no 
part  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,"  by 
provision  of  the  organic  act,  which  ex 
cluded  Indian  Territory  and  reservations 
from  operation  of  the  law;  they  saw 
them  enacting  a  code  in  keeping  .with 
their  character  as  invaders  of  a  neighbor 
ing  territory  over  which  they  had  no  po 
litical  rights  whatever. 


In  the  autumn  of  1855  they  beheld  an 
army  of  2,000,  thoroughly  organized, 
officered,  armed  and  provisioned,  march 
ing  on  Lawrence,  breathing  words  of 
slaughter  and  demolition.  The  people 
had  then  rallied  from  all  quarters,  and 
stood  with  the  residents,  determined  to 
sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible  in 
defense  of  that  town. 

And,  now,  they  saw  it  again  menaced 
by  thousands,  gathered  from  every  South 
ern  State,  hurling  imprecations  against 
the  Free  State  settlers,  threatening  to 
"wipe  out  every  Northern  pioneer,"  and 
divide  his  possessions  among  themselves. 
For  days  they  saw  Lawrence  completely 
surrounded  by  this  invading  army,  while 
several  of  their  compeers,  C.  Robinson, 
G.  W.  Brown,  J.  P.  Root,  and  others, 
were  prisoners  in  their  hands,  and  their 
lives  were  threatened. 

John  Brown,  Jr.,  on  the  Pottawotomie, 
rallied  his  neighbors  and  acquaintances, 
and  joined  them  with  others  from  Osa- 
watomie,  and  marched  to  the  rescue  of 
their  friends.  He  had  a  force  variously 
stated,  ranging  in  number  from  60 
to  120.  On  Thursday,  the  22d  of 
May,  they  reached  Palmyra, within  twelve 
miles  of  Lawrence.  They  there  learned 
of  the  sacking  of  the  town;  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  hotel,  and  printing  offices,  the 
burning  of  Dr.  Robinson's  residence;  the 
general  pillage ;  and  the  arrest  of  G.  W. 
Smith,  G.  W.  Deitzler,  and  Gaius  Jen 
kins;  of  their  removal  to  Lecompton,  held 
under  an  indictment  for  high  treason  I 

After  reconnoitering  in  the  vicinity  for 
a  time,  they  retraced  their  steps  for  a 
short  distance,  and  camped  fqr  the  night. 
On  the  23d  they  resumed  their  homeward 
journey,  and  reached  the  vicinity  of  Pot 
tawotomie,  where  they  again  encamped. 

With  incidents  narrated  to  me  by  an 
eye  witness,  still  living,  and  a  resident  of 
Lawrence,  Kansas,  whose  veracity  was 


16 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


never  called  in  question,  and  whose  un 
supported  statements  would  outweigh,  in 
any  court  of  justice  acquainted  with  his 
character,  the  sworn  statement  of  a  hun 
dred  letter -writers,  and  a  quotation  from 
Redpath,  I  close  this  subdivision.  My 
informant  said: 

"During  the  evening  Old  John  Brown, 
who  had  accompanied  the  expedition  to 
Palmyra,  and  returned  with  it  to  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Pottawotomie,  asked 
the  attention  of  the  men,  and  said  he  had 
an  expedition  in  view,  which  required 
the  assistance  of  some  brave,  bold  men ; 
that  John,  Jr.,  protested  against  any  per 
sons  leaving  the  camp  that  night;  that 
notwithstanding  this  Old  John  Brown 
and  seven  others  left  camp,  armed  to  the 
teeth,  and  marched  towards  the  settle 
ments  on  the  Pottawotomie;  that  they 
returned  early  the  next  morning;  that 
when  our  informant  left  his  tent  in  the 
morning  he  saw  a  navy  sword,  worn 
away  by  one  of  Old  John  Brown's  recruits 
the  night  before,  standing  near  the  door 
of  a  tent,  with  dried  blood  and  red  hair 
upon  it;  that  it  was  laughingly  remarked 
that  the  party  "must  have  killed  a  dog 
the  night  before;"  that  soon  after  the 
camp  was  rallied,  when  a  messenger 
came  in  and  reported  the  killing  and 
mutulation  of  five  men  on  the  Pottowat- 
omie  during  the  night  previous;  that 
John,  Jr.,  was  greatly  excited,  disbanded 
his  men  and  rode  hurredly  towards  Ossa- 
watomie." 

In  Redpath's  Life  of  John  Brown, 
page  117,  I  find  this  statement  confirmed 
in  these  words : 

uOn  the  23d  of  May,  John  Brown  left 
the  camp  of  his  son,  at  Osawatomie,  with 
seven  or  eight  men,  and  from  that  mo 
ment  began  his  guerilla  warfare  in 
Southern  Kansas." 

WHO  WAS   RESPONSIBLE  FOR    THIS    MASSA 
CRE? 

Not  until  after  Old  John  Brown's  ar 
rest  for  murder  and  inciting  slaves  to  in 
surrection,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  on  the  20th 
of  October,  1859,  two  years  and  five 
months  after  the  massacre,  did  I  hear 
but  one  expression  in  Kansas,  as  to  the 
party  responsible  for  that  transaction. 


Pro-slavery  men,  as  well  as  Free  State 
men,  accredited  the  affair  to  him.  And 
on  the  very  day,  if  I  remember  correctly, 
of  his  execution,  a  body  of 'his  friends  in 
public  convention  in  Lawrence,  while 
expressing  sympathy  for  his  fate,  apolo 
gized,  by  public  resolution,  for  these 
murders.  His  most  ardent  admirers  had 
not  face  to  stand  up  before  a  Kansas  au 
dience,  where  the  whole  facts  were  so 
well  known,  and  attempt  a  denial  of  his 
responsibility.  It  was  left  to  his  eastern 
apologists,  first,  to  deny  his  connection 
with  the  affair;  second,  to  justify  the 
outrage  on  humanity,  under  pleas  as 
false  and  specious  as  the  crimes  were  ab 
horrent.  John  Brown  on  several  occa 
sions,  once  while  a  prisoner  at  Charles- 
town,  Va.,  said  he  did  not  do  the  killing, 
but  that  he  approved  of  it.  We  do  not 
assert  that  his  own  hand  struck  the  blow, 
neither  did  John  Calvin,  with  his  own 
hands,  set  fire  to  the  faggots  which 
burned  Michael  Servetus  for  heresy,  but 
the  historian  holds  Calvin  responsible 
Brown's  denial  was  always  guarded  in 
expression,  and  the  reader,  knowing  the 
facts,  saw  there  was  something  behind 
which  was  not  fully  told.  In  a"  speech 
made  by  him  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the 
22d  of  March,  1859,  reported  by  Kagi, 
his  Secretary  of  War,  killed  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  published  in  Redpath's  Life 
ot  Brown,  page  239,  is  probably  found 
the  key  to  this  "mental  reservation.' 
He  said,  according  to  the  report: 

"He  had  never  killed  anybody;  al 
though  on  some  occasions,  he  had  showr 
the  young  men  with  him  how  some 
things  might  be  done  as  well  as  others 
and  they  had  done  the  business." 

What  "business"  had  the  young  men 
done?  Why,  the  killing,  which  he  hac 
instructed  them  how  to  do. 

On  page  112  of  Redpath's  Life,  aftei 
detailing  the  author's  adventure* 
"a  few  days  after  the  sacking  o1 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


17 


Lawrence,"  in  his  "  first  journey  South,1" 
page  106,  he  mentions  that  li  a  Southern 
squatter  from  Pottawotomie  had  arrived 
at  Lecompton  with  dispatches  for  the 
Governor,  which  announced  that  five  pro- 
slavery  settlers  had  been  murdered,  at 
midnight,  and  their  bodies  shockingly 
disfigured  and  mutilated,  by  a  party  of 
Free  State  men.  He  brought  a  request 
for  a  body  of  troops  to  protect  the  pro- 
slavery  people  there,"  &c.  He  then  states 
that  the  troops  passed  through  Lawrence 
en  route  for  Osawotoinie,  as  it  was  under 
stood,  to  arrest  John  Brown,  Jr.,  and  the 
force  he  commanded.  He  left  Lawrence 
to  inform  the  Browns  of  their  danger; 
recites  his  adventures,  and  on  page  112, 
as  he  neared  the  camp  of  those  he  sought, 
he  was  interrupted  by  Frederick  Brown, 
with  the  command,  "  Halt !"  His  recog 
nition,  and  the  young  man's  movements 
on  the  occasion,  are  thus  narrated : 

"  He  talked  wildly,  as  he  walked  be 
fore  me,  turning  round  every  minute,  as 
he  spoke  of  the  recent  affair  at  Pottawot 
omie.  .  His  family,  he  said,  had  been  ac 
cused  of  it;  he  denied  it  indignantly, 
•with  the  wild  air  of  a  maniac.  His  ex 
citement  was  so  great  that  he  repeatedly 
recrossed  the  creek,  until,  getting  anxious 
to  reach  the  camp,  I  refused  to  listen  to 
him  until  he  took  me  to  his  father.  He 
then  quietly  filled  his  pail  with  water, 
and,  after  many  strange  turnings,  led  me 
into  camp." 

Redpath  then  relates  the  incidents  on 
reaching  camp,  and,  on  page  113,  con 
tinues  : 

"Old  Brown  himself  stood  near  the  fire. 
The  old  man  received  me  with  great  cor 
diality,  and  the  little  band  gathered 
about  me.  But  it  was  for  a  moment  only, 
for  the  Captain  ordered  them  to  renew 
their  work.  He  respectfully  but  firmly 
forbade  conversation  on?  the  Pottawotomie 
affair;  and  said  that  if  I  desired  any  in- 
foimation  from  the  company  in  relation 
to  their  conduct  or  intentions,  he,  as  their 
Captain,would  answer  for  them,  whatever 
was  proper  to  communicate." 

Iliis  was  but  two  to  three    days   after 


the  massacre,  while  the  letter-writers 
were  gathering  material  for  the  Eastern 
press,  Redpath  being  one  of  them,  and 
fully  in  sympathy,as  we  shall  see  further 
on,  with  a  movement  to  bring  on  a 
"revolution."  , 

FURTHER,     WHO  WAS  RESPONSIVE? 

The  reader  may  weary  with  these  de 
tails  of  facts,  cumulative  in  their  char 
acter,  connecting  Capt.  Brown  with  this 
massacre  on  the  Pottawotomie;  but  it 
will  be  remembered  that  twenty  years 
ago  he  was,  through  the  public  press, 
charged  with  it.  His  friends,  outside  of 
Kansas,  denied  his  guilt,  and  he  equivo 
cated  when  interrogated  in  regard  to  it, 
by  saying,  "/  never  shed  the  blood  of  a  fel 
low  man,  except  in  self-defence,  or  in  pro 
motion  of  a  righteous  cause."  See  Red- 
path's  Life,  page  383.  ^ 

F.  B.  Sanborn,  of  Concord,  N.  H., 
who  is  the  author  of  the  "Memoirs  of 
John  Brown,"  in  a  letter,  written  Nov. 
26,  1878,  and  published  in  the  Spring 
field  Republican,  used  this  language  in 
regard  to  that  event: 

"That  Brown  was  connected  with  this 
affair,  and  approved  of  it  I  have  never 
doubted— that  he  was  actually  present, 
he  always  denied  to  me — and  I  shall  be- 
liev  him  until  some  eye  witness  proves 
to  the  contrary.  One  eye  witness  has 
told  two  contradictory  stories  about  it; 
and  nobody  has  yet  made  public  the  whole 
truth," 

Though  the  writer  was  not  an  "eye-wit 
ness,"  yet  he  believes  he  is  in  possession 
of  the  whole  "truth,"  and  it  is  with  an 
earnest  desire  to  reach  that  point  that  he 
continues  these  inquiries.  The  "eye-wit- 
nesses"were  accomplices  in  the  transaction, 
and  it  is  safe  to  expect  from  them  "con 
tradictory  stories."  Before  the  evidence 
is  finally  closed,  his  friends  will  with 
draw  their  attempt  to  prove  an  alibi,  and 
rely  upon  justifying,  else  set  up  the 
ple'a  of  insanity,  which  Brown  rejected 
with  so  much  scorn  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
We  continue: 


18 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


Mrs.  Robinson,  in  her  "Kansas,  Its  In 
terior  and  Exterior,"  written  in  "Camp 
near  Lecompton,"  where  her  husband  and 
the  other  Free  State  prisoners  were  held 
for  high  treason,  guarded  by  a  regiment 
of  United  States  troops,  as  she  could  not, 
even  as  a  partisan  of  the  times,  vindicate 
the  transaction,  very  properly  passed  it 
over,  merely  telling  her  readers  of  the 
inflammatory  statements  which  were 
spread  along  the  Missouri  border  in  con 
sequence:  and  then  she  describes  some 
what  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence  the 
events  following,  and  growing  directly 
out  of  these  murders. 

Phillips,  in  his  "Conquest  of  Kansas," 
seems  horrified  on  account  of  these  mur 
ders,  and  says: 

"A  party  of    seven  or  eight  guerillas, 

NOT  YOUNG  MEN,  BUT  STERN  DETERMINED 

MEN,  attacked  them,  and  in  the  scuffle 
every  pro-slavery  man  was  killed." 

Redpath,  page  99,  aids  us  somewhat 
in  finding  out  who  these  "guerillas,  not 
young  men,  but  stern  determined  men," 
were,  in  the  following  words: 

"John  Brown,  Jr.,  marched  back  to 
Osawatomie  [from  Palmyra,]  but  ere  he 
reached  it  and  disbanded  his  father,  with 
a  company  of  seven  men,  left  his  camp, 
and  began  in  right  earnest  the  war  of 
liberty." 

Mr.  Phillips  well  knew  that  these  men 
•were  not  killed  in  a  body;  that  they 
•were  taken  from  their  homes  during  the 
darkness  of  night,  and  one  by  one 
were  murdered  and  mutilated,  and  Red- 
path  calls  it  the  beginning  of  "  The  War 
of  Liberty."  A  few  lines  further  down 
the  page  Phillips  says:  "  It  was  one  of 
those  cases  at  which  enlightened  human 
ity  will  shudder."  He  denies  the  muti 
lation,  and  then  invents  the  tale  of  Sher 
man  being  killed  and  mutilated  by  Ca- 
manches! 

i  Redpath,  who  always  justified  and  en 
couraged  tne  shedding  of  blood;  who, 
n  his  "  Roving  Editor,"  says  he  "went  to 


Kansas  to  incite  a  revolution,"  and  whose 
every  action,  by  pen  and  otherwise,  was 
in  that  direction,  falsely  ascribes  the 
provocation  to  a  state  of  facts  that  did 
not  exist,  then  justified  the  killing,  but 
denies  the  participation  of  old  John 
Brown  in  it,  though  he  informs  us  that 
the  Captain  "  approved  of  it" 

John  Doyle,  a  son  of  the  murdered 
man,  and  brother  of  Drury  and  William 
Doyle,  who  gave  testimony  to  the  Con 
gressional  Investigating  Committee,  pre 
viously  referred  to,  in  an  affidavit  dated 
June  6th,  1856,  only  a  few  days  alter  the 
murder,  says: 

"An  old  man  commanded  the  party; 
he  was  dark  complected,  and  his  face 
was  thin.  We  had  lighted  a  candle,  and 
about  eight  of  them  entered  the  house\ 
there  were  some  more  outside." 

James  Harris,  also  an  Investigating 
Committee  witness,  says  he  was  living  in 
Sherman's  house,  in  bed  with  his  own 
wife  and  child,  when 

"  We  were  aroused  by  a  company  of 
men  who  said  they  belonged  to  the 
Northern  army,  and  who  were  each 
armed  with  a  sabre  and  two  revolvers; 
two  of  them  I  recognized,  namely :  a 
Mr.  Brown,  whose  given  name  I  do  not 
remember,  commonly  known  by  the 
appellation  of  '*  Old  Man  Brown,'  and  his 
son  Owen.  *  *  Old  Mr.  Brown 
and  his  son  went  into  the  house  with 
me.  *  *  Brown  asked  Mr, 
Sherman  to  go  out  with  him,  and 
Mr.  Sherman  then  went  out  with 
old  Mr.  Brown,  and  another  came  into 
the  house  in  Brown's  place.  I  heard  no^. 
thing  more  for  about  15  minutes.  Two 
of  the  Northern  Army,  as  they  styled 
themselves,  stayed  in  with  us  until  we 
heard  a  cap  burst,  and  then  these  two 
men  left.  That  morning  about  ten 
o'clock  I  found  Wm.  Sherman  dead  in 
the  creek  near  my  house." 

The  above  is  followed  with  a  descrip 
tion  by  the  witness  of  the  mutilation, 
copied  further  back.  Phillips  says  he 
was  killed  and  mutilated  by  Camanchesl 
How  much  short  does  this  evidence  fall 
of  the  "eye-witness"  desired  by  Sanborn, 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN   BROWN. 


and  what  other  proof  is  required  to  asso 
ciate  the  "father  of  Owen  Brown"  with 
the  Camarches? 

Mrs.  Wilkinson,  in  her  affidavit  to 
the  Investigating  Committee,  made  on 
the  13th  of  June,  1856,  less  than  three 
weeks  after  the  murder,  said : — 

"I  believe  that  one  of  Capt.  Brown's 
sons  was  in  the  party  who  murdered  my 
husband;  I  heard  a  voice  like  his.  I  do 
not  know  Capt.  Brown  himself.  *  * 
The  old  man  who  seemed  to  be  the  com 
mander  wore  soiled  clothes,  and  a  straw 
hat  pulled  down  over  his  face.  He  spoke 
quick;  is  a  tall,  narrow-faced,  elderly 
man." 

Morrow  B.  Lowry,  ot  Erie,  Pa.,  a  per 
sonal  friend  of  the  writer,  visited  John 
Brown  while  in  prison  al  Charlestown, 
and,  referring  to  this  affair,  "ventured  the 
remark  that  his  reputation  demanded  an 
explanation."  Brown  replied:  "Time  and 
the  honest  verdict  of  posterity  will  ap 
prove  of  every  act  of  mine  to  prevent 
slavery  from  being  established  in  Kansas. 
I  never  shed  the  blood  of  a  fellow-man, 
except  in  self-defense  or  in  promotion  of 
a  righteous  cause." 

Here  is  no  denial  of  the  killing;  no 
claim  by  the  man  himself  of  an  alibi; 
but  a  firm  reliance  on  ''posterity"  for  jus 
tification. 

NEWLY  DISCOVERED  EVIDENCE. 

I  might  close  the  testimony  at  this 
point,  and  submit  the  case,  as  to  the  con 
nection  of  Capt.  Brown  with  this  Potta- 
wotomie  affair,  to  the  impartial  verdict 
of  the  reader;  but  I  have  before  me  the 
letter  referred  to  above,  written  to  the 
Springfield  Republican  touching  this  sub 
ject.  .  I  will  give  it  in  Mr.  Sanborn's 
own  words,  punctuation  and  parenthesis. 
It  will  be  seen  it  corroborates  to  the  let 
ter  and  date,  every  assertion  we  have 
previously  made  on  this  subject,and,  what 
is  strange,  on  the  hypothesis  that  Brown 
was  not  immediately  connected  with 
it,  while  he  mentions  that  he  is  charged 


with  guilt,  he  only  retorts  by  criminating 
his  friends  at  Osawotoinie  and  Lawrence, 
designating  their  refusal  to  fight  the 
United  States  troops  as  "cowardly"  and 
"mean."  I  quote  from  Sanborn's  letter; 
the  italics  are  mine : 

"I  have  before  me  a  letter  of  John 
Brown's,  never  yet  printed.  *  *  He 
says :  "We  were  called  to  the  relief  of 
Lawrence,  May  22,  and  every  man,  (eight 
in  all)  except  Orson  turned  out;  he  stay 
ing  with  the  women  and  children,  and  to 
take  care  of  the  cattle.  John  (Jr.)  was 
captain  of  a  company  to  which  Jackson 
belonged.  The  other  six  were  a  little 
company  by  ourselves.  On  our  way  to 
Lawrence  we  learned  that  it  had  been 
already  destroyed,  and  we  encamped  with 
John's  company  over  night.  (This  must 
have  been  the  night  of  May  22,Thursday.) 
Next  day  our  little  company  left,  and 
during  the  day  we  stopped  and  searched 
three  men.  On  the  second  day  and  eve 
ning  after  we  left  John's  men ;  ("this  was 
Saturday,  May  24,  and  on  that  evening 
the  Pottawotomie  ruffians  were  shot,") 
lwe  encountered  quite  a  number  of  pro  slave 
ry  men  and  took  quite  a  number  prison 
ers.  Our  prisoners  we  let  go,  but  we 
kept  some  four  or  five  horses.  We  were 
immediately  after  this  accused  of  murder 
ing  Jive  men  at  Pottawotomie,  and  great 
efforts  have  since  been  made  by  the  Missou- 
riitn's  and  others,  ruffian  allies,  to  capture 
us.  John's  company  soon  afterwards  dis 
banded,  and  also  the  Osawotoinie  men. 
John  tried  to  hide  for  several  days,  bat 
from  the  feelings  of  the  ungrateful  con 
duct  of  those  who  had  ought  to  have 
stood  by  him,  excessive  fatigue,  anxiety 
and  loss  of  sleep,  became  quite  insane, 
and  in  that  condition  gave  up,  or,  as  we 
are  told,  was  betrayed  at  Osawatomie  in 
to  the  hands  ot  the  Bogus  men.  ^  We  do 
not  know  all  the  truth  aboutthis  affair. 
The  cowardly  mean  conduct  of  Osawo- 
tomie  and  vicinity  did  not  save  them, 
for  the  ruffians  came  on  them,  made 
numerous  prisoners,  fired  their  buildings 
and  robbed  them.  It  is  said  that  both 
the  Lawrence  and  Osawatomie  men, 
when  the  ruffians  came  on  them,  either 
hid  or  gaye  up  their  arms,  and  that  their 
leading  men  counseled,  to  take  such  a 
course?  "This  letter  bears  date,  near 
Osawatomie,"  June  24,  1856." 


REMJNISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


So  much  for  the  letter  and  Sanborn's 
interpolations  in  brackets.  It  was  writ 
ten  from  "near  Osawatomie,"  which  was 
about  seven  miles  from  the  scene  of  this 
massacre,  just  one  month  to  a  day,  after 
the  murder.  Under  another  head  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  refer  to  this  letter  again 

THE    CAMANCHES    DISCOVERED. 

I  find  in  the  "First  Biennial  Report  of 
the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  Kan 
sas,"  Vol.  6,  published  in  1878,  under  the 
head  of  Miami  County,  page  311,  the  fol 
lowing  very  clear,  but  in  some  respects 
inaccurate,  account  of  this  transaction, 
from  the  pen  of  E.  W.  Robinson,  Esq., 
v  long  a  resident  of  the  county,  located  at 
Paola,  but  a  few  miles  distant.  His  ve 
racity  no  man  will  call  in  question.  He 
says : 

"  On  the  24th  of  May,  Winans,  a  Free 
State  man,  who  kept  a  store  on  Mosquito 
Creek,  brought  the  intelligence  to  the 
Free  State  camp,  near  Ottawa,  commonly 
called  'Toywa  Jones,'  that  the  anti-sla 
very  settlers  on  the  Pottawotomie  had 
been  ordered  to  leave.  On  the  reception 
of  this  news  a  detachment,  under  com 
mand  of  John  Brown,  Sr.,  at  once  set  out, 
on  the  evening  of  the  24th,  for  the  relief 
and  protection  of  the  settlers. 

"On  arriving  at  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Doyle,  on  Mosquito  Creek,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Pottawotomie,  the  party  stopped 
and  called  Doyle  out,  and  when  he  ap 
peared  they  fell  on  him  with  heavy  cut 
lasses  and  sabres,  and  hacked  him  to 
death.  Doyle's  two  sons,  coming  to  the 
rescue  of  their  father,  met  with  a,  similar 
fate. 

"From  Doyle's  the  party  proceeded  to 
the  house  of  Allen  Wilkinson,  wh  was 
especially  ohnoxious,  on  account  of  his 
having  been  a  member  of  the  'Bogus 
Legislature,'  and,  on  making  his  appear 
ance,  the  party  murdered  him.  A  Mr. 
Sherman,  living  on  the  Pottawotomie, 
was  also  murdered  by  the  same  party." 

This  seems  sufficiently  definite.  An 
active  member  of  the  Republican  party, 
resident  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this 
massacre,  and  writing  for  home  use,  a 
historical  sketch  of  his  county >  says  John 
Brown,  Sr.,  commanded  the  detachment. 


And  he  says  they  "hacked"  the  Doyle's 
to  death,  and  "murdered"  Wilkinson, 
and  "  murdered'-  Sherman !  •  And  he  tells 
us.  in  so  many  words,  who  'Phillips' 
Camanches  were!  The  writer  has  been 
careful  to  withhold  a  statement  of  even 
his  opinion  in  the  premises,  content  to 
collate  such  facts  as  are  open  to  the 
world. 

TERRIBLE    ARRAIGNMENT. 

The  following,  sent  to  John  Brown,  and 
read  to  him  by  the  Sheriff,  in  prison, 
while  the  Captain  was  under  sentence  of 
death,  is  a  terrible  finale  of  that  horrible 
massacre.  Whether  the  "Liberator,"  as 
his  friends  called  him,  was  guilty,  or 
or  otherwise,  it  tells  in  sad,  sorrowful, 
and  bitter  words  who  the  lonely  wife  and 
mother  believed  the  murderer  of  her 
husband  and  sons: 
"CHATTANOOGA,  Tenn.,  Nov.  20,  1859. 

JOHN  BROWN — Sir : — Although  ven 
geance  is  not  mine,  I  confess  that  I  do 
feel  gratified  to  hear  that  you  were 
stopped  in  your  fiendish  career  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  with  the  loss  of  your 
two  sons.  You  can  now  appreciate  my 
distress  in  Kansas,  when  you  then  and 
there  entered  my  house  at  midnight  and 
arrested  my  husband  and  two  boys,  and 
took  them  out  in  the  yard,  and  in  cold 
blood  shot  them  dead  in  my  hearing. 
You  can't  say  you  did  it  to  free  our 
slaves;  we  had  none,  and  never  expected 
to  own  one ;  but  it  only  made  me  a  poor 
disconsolate  widow,  with  helpless  child 
ren  While  I  feel  for  your  folly,  I  do 
hope  and  trust  you  will  meet  with 
your  just  reward.  Oh,  how  it  pained 
my  heart  to  hear  the  dying  groans 
of  my  husband  and  children.  If 
this  scrawl  gives  you  any  satisfaction, 
you  are  welcome  to  it.  v 

MAHAL  A  DOYLE. 

"N.  B.— My  son,  John  Doyle,  whose 
life  I  begged  of  you,  is  now  grown  up, 
and  is  very  desirous  to  be  at  Charlestown, 
on  the  day  of  your  execution ;  would  cer 
tainly  be  there  if  his  means  would  per 
mit  it,  that  he  might  adjust  the  rope 
around  your  neck,  if  Gov.  Wise  would 
permit."  M.  D. 

Three  and  a  half  years  only  had  passed, 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


at  the  time  of  writing  that  terribly  vin 
dicative  letter,  since  that  fatal  night  on 
the  Pottawotomie,  when  Mrs.  Doyle's 
husband,  and  sons  were  slain.  She  had 
left  Kansas,  with  the  remaining  members 
of  her  family,  the  youngest  only  five 
years  old,  and  had  struggled  as  only  a 
mother  will,  to  keep  them  near  her.  No 
one  can  know  the  anguish  of  heart ;  the 
poverty ;  the  wretchedness ;  the  suffering 
which  had  been  hers  in  consequence. 
Though  the  reader.  I  hope,  similarly 
circumstanced,  would  not  have  written 
such  a  letter,  yet,  in  her  bereaved  condi 
tion,  she  was  human,  and  it  tells  more 
forcibly  than  words  of  mine  to  whom  she 
ascribed  the  cause  of  her  woe. 

MOTIVE     FOR    THE   KILLING. 

The  motive  for  the  killing  of  these  men, 
on  the  Pottawotomie,  as  given  by  various 
authors,  are  so  varied  and  numerous  it 
will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  ar 
rive  at  the  truth,  other  than  by  implica 
tion. 

1.  R.  J.  Hinton,  a  very  intimate  friend 
of  Capt.   Brown,   who  designed  to  have 
been  at  Harper's  Ferry,  but  could  not  get 
away,  according   to  Cook,  one  of  the  ac 
complices,  in  a  letter   of  Dec.   3,    '59,  to 
the  Boston  Traveler,  said : 

"  Doyle  was  engaged  with  others  in  a 
fiendish  attempt  to  outrage  the  persons  of 
Capt.  Brown's  daughter  and  daughter-in- 
law,  the  wife  of  one  of  Brown's  sons." 
hence  the  murder. 

2.  J.  R.  Brown,  a  brother  of  old  John, 
writing  to  the  Cleveland   Plaindealer,  of 
date  Fov  22,  '59,  says: 

44  My  brother  John  and  his  two  sons 
were  living  in  the  same  neighborhood, 
and  a  committee  of  five  from  the  Bor 
der  Ruffian  camp  called  upon  him,  and 
said  that  they  were  instructed  to  warn 
him  that  if  the  Free  State  men  were 
found  there  the  next  Thursday  night, 
they  would  kill  every  one  of  them." 

3.  A  statement  went  through  the  East 
ern  press  excusing  the  killing,  by  saying 
that: 


"The  old  man  was  driven  to  violence 
by  the  murder  of  his  son,  Fre  terick,  and 
the  arrest  of  John,  Jr.,  who  was  chained 
and  driven  forty  miles  in  a  hot  sun,  etc." 

Both  of  these  events  followed,  and  was 
in  consequence  of  these  murders.  John, 
Jr.,  when  arrested,  was  suspicioned  of 
being  one  of  the  banditti;  and  Frederick 
was  killed  on  the  morning  of  the  3()th  of 
August,  more  than  three  months  after  the 
murders,  hence  we  must  seek  elsewhere 
for  the  cause. 

4.  Still   another  statement  was  made 
that  — 

"A  band  of  pro-slavery  men  went  to^ 
the  house  of  John,  Jr.,  insulted  his  wife, 
burned  his  cabin,  and  drove  off  his 
cattle." 

The  cabins  of  the  sons  of  old  John 
Brown  were  burned  by  pro-slavery  men, 
on  the  27th  or  28th  of  May.  three  to  four 
days  after  the  massacre,  and  because  of  it. 

5.  "John  Brown's  cabin  was  burned,  his 
blooded  stock  were  driven  off,   and  the 
women  of  his  family   were  grossly  in 
sulted." 

John  Brown  never  had  a  cabin  in  Kan 
sas,  nor  owned  or  exercised  ownership 
over  one  foot  of  Kansas  soil.  His  family, 
through  all  his  western  adventures,  were 
residents  of  North  Elba,  Essex  county, 
New  York.  In  answer  to  Valandingham, 
while  in  Charles  town  jail,  Captain  Brown 
said  in  so  many  words :  "I  did  not  go  to 
Kansas  to  settle,  but  because  of  the  dif 
ficulties." 

6.  "That  Wilkinson,  Sherman  and  the 
Doyles  were  caught  in  the  act  of  hanging 
a  Free    State  man,  and   were  shot    by 
friends  of  the  injured  party." 

7.  Old  John  Brown  told  A.  E.  Coleman, 
Esq.,residing  near  Lawrence,  Kan., that  he, 

'Brown,  ran  a  survey  line  through 
each  of  the  cabins  of  the  murdered  men, 
and,  on  account  of  being  a  stranger,heard 
from  their  own  lips  a  plan  to  drive  out 
the  entire  Free  State  settlers;  that  it  was 
merely  a  question  whether  to  submit  to 
being  driven  out,  or  to  drive  out  those 
who  were  threatening  their  neighbors." 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


This  statement  was  made  long  after  the 
event,  when  the  transaction  needed  vindi 
cation. 

8.  Red  path's  Life  of  John   Brown,  p. 
118  says: 

"On  the  night  of  the  25th  of  May,  the 
Doyles,  Wilkinson  and  Sherman  were 
seized,  tried  and  slain.  This  act  was 
precipitated  by  a  brutal  assault  commit 
ted  during  the  forenoon  on  a  Free  State 
man.  at  the  store  ot  Sherman,  in  which 
the  Doyles  were  the  principal  and  most 
ruffian);'  participators." 

9.  Captain  Brown  in  answering  a  ques 
tion  from  the   Chairman  of    the    Massa 
chusetts  Legislature,  in   Boston,   on   the 
18th  of  February,  1857,  said: 

" He  saw  a  great  deal  of  Buford's  men 
in  Kansas;  that  they  spoke  without  hesi 
tation  before  him,  because  he  employed 
himself  as  a  surveyor;  and,  as  nearly  all 
the  surveyors  were  pro-slavery  men,  they 
probably  thought  he  was  'sound  on  the 
goose.'  They  told  him  all  their  plans; 
what  they  intended  to  do;  how  they 
were  determined  to  drive  off  the  Free 
State  men,  and  possess  themselves  of 
the  Territory,  and  make  it  a  slave  State 
at  all  hazards,  cost  what  it  might.  *  * 
They  did  not  hesitate  to  threaten  that 
they  would  burn,  kill,  scalp,  and  drive 
out  the  entire  Free  State  population  of 
the  Territory,  if  it  was  necessary  to  do  so 
to  accomplish  their  object." 

The  above  was,  probably,  the  original 
of  the  survey  story,  and  was  varied  from 
time  to  time,  by  different  reporters,  to  ac 
commodate  varying  circumstances. 

TOO   GOOD    TO    MURDER. 

But  it  is  said  that  Old  John  Brown's 
who!e  character  was  antagonistic  to  such 
outrages  upon  humanity,  as  were  these 
on  the  Pottawotomie;  that  he  was 
a  religious  man,  of  Puritanic  faith  and 
practice;  a  praying  man,  and  that  the  vi 
olent  shedding  of  blood  wa?  not  in  har 
mony  wifh  his  Christian  life,  his  great 
love  for  the  negro,  and  his  desire  for 
heir  liberation  from  a  life  of  toil  and 
slavery.  The  reader  will  please  remem- 
bcr  his  oft-quoted  expression,  "Without 


the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remis 
sion."  Some  of  the  vilest  char 
acters  whose  names  have  come 
down  to  us,  have  falsified  the  pure 
teachings  of  the  Master,  by  an  almost  in 
discriminate  massacre  of  those  who  en 
tertained  religious  convictions  in  opposi 
tion  to  them.  Their  faith  did  not  save 
them  from  an  exhibition  of  brutal 
sions. 

Will  some  reader  who  has  implicit 
confidence  in  old  John  Brown's  piety  be 
ing  sufficient  to  shield  him  from  such 
acts  of  violence,  give  interpretation  to  the 
following  extract,  which  I  make  from 
page  191,  Redpath's  Life  of  Brown?  It 
was  while  the  Captain  was  in  Boston,  in 
the  winter  of  1857.  Says  the  biogra 
pher, — the  italics  are  mine : 

"  Mr.  Stearns,  an  active  and  generous 
friend  of  Kansas,  tells  two  incidents  of 
John  Brown's  visit  to  Boston  at  this  time, 
which  are  exceedingly  characteristic  of  the 
old  Puritan:  , 

"  Shortly  after  his  introduction  to  him, 
Mr.  Stearns  said,  one  day,  half  jestingly, 
*  I  suppose,  Captain  Brown,  that  if  Judge 
Lecompte  had  fallen  into  your  hands,  he 
would  have  fared  rather  hard?' 

''The  old  man  turned  round  in  his 
chair,  and,  in  the  most  earnest  tones,  said, 
'  If  the  Lord  had  delivered  Judge  Lecompte 
into  my  hands,  it  would  have  required  the 
Lord  to  have  taken  him  out  again!" 

EFFECT    OF    THE    MASSACRE    ON  THE  FREE 
STATE    PARTY. 

Phillips'  Conquest  of  Kansas,  page  117, 
says : — 

"The  effect  of  this  act  was  highly  ben 
eficial  to  the  Free  State  men.  *  *  Ev 
ery  one  in  Kansas  admitted  the  fact,  al 
though  many  of  them  deny  it  now." 

When  did  they  "deny"  that  it  was 
"beneficial?"  Why,  "now,"  when  his 
book  was  published,  on  the  first  of  Aug 
ust,  1856,  two  months  only  after  the  mas 
sacre.  And  why  did  "many  of  them 
deny  it'1  so  soon  after  the  transaction? 
Possibly  they  had  noticed  'he  conse 
quences  growing  out  of,  and  directly 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


traceable  to  that  tragedy.  Suppose, 
reader,  we  lift  the  veil  of  the  past  en 
shrouding  Kansas  history,  and,  per- 
c'lauce,  ere  \ve  close,  you,  too,  may  be  one 
who  denies  that  beneficial  results  follow 
murder  and  mutilation!  We  read  some 
where  that,  '-He  who  takes  the  sword 
shall  perish  by  the  sword."  There  are 
but  few  who  have  not  observed  that  "vi 
olence  begets  violence." 

Mrs.  Robinson  was  on  the  Missouri 
at  the  time  of  this  occurrence.  She  says 
page  273,  of  her  "Kansas  Interior  and  Ex 
terior."  ( 

"The  last  day  or  two  of  the  trip  on  the 
Missouri  river,  rumors  of  v.*ar  became 
more  frequent.  Inflammatory  extras 
were  thrown  upon  the  boats  at  different 
landings.  *  *  The  extras  stated  the 
murder  of  eight  pro-slavery  men  by  the 
abolitionists,  and  the  cruel  mutilation  of 
their  bodies." 

I  have  already  stated  how  the  news  of 
these  murders  was  received  in  Lecomp- 
ton,  and  the  determination  to  retaliate 
by  hanging  the  treason  prisoners. 
4e>  Gov.  Robinson  was  taken  by  a  mob  at 
"Lexington.  Mo.,  while  descending  the 
Missouri  in  company  wUh  his  wife.  He 
was  detained  there  for  a  few  days;  thence 
taken  by  way  of  Westport,  to  Franklin, 
within  four  miles  of  Lawrence;  thence 
back  to  Kansas  City,  and  up  the  Missou 
ri,  to  Leaveuworth,  where  he  arrived  on 
the  eve  of  these  murders  on  the  Potta- 
watomie.  The  news  of  the  massacre 
caused  the  most  intense  excitement.  It 
was  all  that  active  pro-slavery  men,  who 
were  warm  personal  friends  of  the  Gov 
ernor,  some  of  whom  were  under 
lasting  obligations  to  him  for 
favors  rendered  in  California,  and 
on  his  way  thither,  to  save  him  from 
violent  death.  Indeed,  the  people  were 
wrought  up  to  such  a  furious  phrenzy 
that  death  was  expected  at  any  moment. 
An  eye-witness  of  the  scene  told  me  that 
the  cooler  and  better  class  of  the  citizens, 


thinking  they  were  powerless  to  save  him, 
wept  like  children  as  one  by  one  they 
took  him  by  the  hand  and  bade  him  fare 
well. 

The  Congressional  Investigating  Com 
mittee  were  in  session  at  Leaven  worth. 
They  could  not  proceed  with  business 
because  of  the  excitement,  hence  re 
moved  to  Kansas  City,  where  they  also 
found  it  impossible,  with  personal  safety, 
to  continue  their  investigations,  and  left 
for  Washington,  one  of  the  members  re 
maining  long  enough  to  obtain  affidavits 
detailing  the  incidents  of  this  awful 
tragedy,  portions  of  which  I  have  copied. 
In  his  minority  report  to  Congress,  he 
said  of  these  murders : —  'In  savage  bar 
barity  and  demoniac  cruelty  they  [haye] 
scarcely  an  equal  in  the  history  of  civil 
ized  man !"  The  majority  of  the  Com 
mittee  were  compelled  to  stultify  them 
selves,  and  throw  out  important  evidence 
they  had  already  taken,  in  order  to  sup 
press  the  loathing  details  of  the  butchery. 
|  A  lady  resident  of  Leaven  worth,  at  the 
time  the  news  of  the  tragedy  reached 
that  city,  told  me,  on  her  way  up  the 
Missouri  in  the  following  spring,  return 
ing  for  the  first  time  after  the  occurrence 
to  Kansas,  of  its  effects  on  the  Free  State 
population  there.  She  said  a  public 
meeting  of  pro-slavery  men  was  immedi 
ately  called,  when  the  account  of  the 
Pottawotomie  massacre  was  narrated  to 
the  already-crazed  pro-slavery  mob.  The 
most  violent,  denunciatory  and  threaten 
ing  speeches  were  made.  Resolutions 
were  passed  of  a  fiery  character,  setting 
forth  that  the  first  blood  had  been  shed 
by  the  Free  Btate  men ;  that  the  midnight 
assassins  were  not  satisfied  with  simply 
murdering  their  victims,  but  that  they 
had  mutilated  them  in  a  shameful  man 
ner.  They  declared  that  it  was  impos3i- 
ble  for  the  abolitionists  and  the  pro- 
slavery  settlers  to  live  together  in  Kansas 
and  that  the  former  must  leave.  She 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD   JOHN   BROWN. 


said  a  body  of  arnud  men  marched 
through  the  streets,  visiting  each  dwell 
ing,  and  ordered  every  Free  State  man, 
•woman  aud  child  to  go  at  once  to  the 
Levee.  They  would  not  allow  her  to 
even  close  her  house;  but  with  her  child 
ren  she  was  marched  to  the  river  where 
she  found  hundreds  of  others.  All  wcie 
forced  upon  a  steamer  lying  at  the  levee, 
including  her  husband  who  she  found 
there.  The  Captain  was  ordered  to  take 
these  involuntary  passengers  to  Alton 
and  there  leave  them.  She  remained 
in  that  city  until  the  spring  of  1857, 
when  she  returned  with  her  husband  and 
again  settled  in  the  Territory. 

Mr.  Phillips,  in  his  "  Conquest  of  Kan 
sas.''  (a  very  singular  title  for  a  book 
whose  author  was  supposed  to  be  in  favor 
of  fiee  institutions  for  that  Territory,) 
speaking  of  this  event,  page  318,  says: 

"  Citizens  of  Leavenworth  who  were 
known  to  be  Free  State  men,  were  noti- 
lied  that  they  must  leave  the  Territory. 
On  the  morning  of  the 
28th  of  May,  [four  days  after  the  mur 
ders,  as  the  reader  will  observe,]  the  of 
fice  of  the  Leavenworth  Herald  issued  a 
reprint  of  a  violent  'war'  extra  of  the 
Westport  paper,  the  design  of  which  was 
to  excite  the  border  men  to  acts  of  vio 
lence  against  the  Free  State  settlers  of 
Kansas.  In  the  forenoon  of  that  day  a 
pro-slavery  meeting  was  held,  at  which 
Btringiellow  and  Gen.  Richardson  were 
prominent  actors.  At  this  meeting  it 
was  decreed  that  all  persons  who  had 
taken  an  active  part  as  Free  State  men 
must  leave  the  Territory." 

Mr.  Phillips  seems  to  ascribe  these  out 
rages,  by  the  pro-slavery  party  at  Leaven 
worth,  to  the  appearance  of  the  Investi 
gating  Committee;  but  the  facts  are,  they 
were  because  the  news  of  the  murders 
on  the  Pottawotoinie  only  reached 
them  at  that  moment,  by  way  of  West- 
port  and  Kansas  City,  hence  the  reason  of 
republishing  the  "  war  extra"  from 
Westport. 

Gov.  Robinson  was  hurried  away  from 


Lcnvenwortli.  in  the  midst  of  this  excite 
ment,  by  the  cooler  headed  pro-slavery 
men,  across  the  prairies  to  .Lecompton, 
i  where  he  joined  the  other  prisoners  un 
der  indictment  for  high  treason  on  the 
1st  of  June.  It  was  owing  to  this  event 
he  was  saved  from  violence. 
•  But  these  excesses  were  not  limited  to 
Leavenworth.  Steamers  coming  up  the 
Missouri,  loaded  with  Eastern  passen 
gers,  were  sent  back  to  St.  Louis ;  and  all 
emigration  by  way  of  this  great  thor 
oughfare  was  suspended  until  autumn, 
and  the  arrival  of  Gov.  Geary  in  the  Ter 
ritory.  A  reign  of  terror  paralyzed  every 
industry,  and  mob  violence  reigned 
supreme. 

South  of  the  river  the  times  were  no 
less  exciting.  The  pro-slavery  popula 
tion  on  the  Pottawotomie  arose  in  mass, 
burned  the  cabins  of  Captain  Brown's 
sons,  (not  his,  for  he  never  had  any  cabin 
in  Kansas  to  burn,)  drove  off  their  stock, 
and  it  is  probable  their  language  to  the 
daughter  and  daughter-in-law,  who  alone 
were  in  possession,  was  really  insulting, 
for  it  is  said  to  be  true  they  represented 
the  father  and  husband  of  these  ladies, 
(very  amiable  people,  by  the  way,)  with 
having  caused  the  murder  i-f  their 
friends,  the  Doyles,  &c. 

Henry  Clay  Pate,  with  his  "Westport 
Sharpshooters,"  who  were  mounted,  had 
escorted  Gaius  Jenkins  and  the  writer 
from  Westport  to  a  point  near  Lecompton, 
where  we  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the 
19th  of  May.  He  was  present,  taking 
part  with  his  command,  at  the  sacking  of 
Lawrence,  on  the  21st.  Thence  he  visited 
Lecompton,  where  he  learned,  on  the 
evening  of  the  25th,  of  the  murders  on 
the  Pottawotomie.  As  every  Missourian 
imagined  himself  a  United  States  Mar 
shal —  many  had  commissions  as  deputy, 
and  among  this  number  was  Pate  him 
self — he  resolved  to  arrest  John  Brown 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


25 


anil  his  party,  then  augmented  to  nine. 
Without  following  his  steps  in  detail  to 
Palmyra  and  Prairie  City,  and  noting  the 
outrages  which  Pate  perpetrated  at  these 
places,  and  in  their  vicinity,  enough  to 
ever  cover  his  name  with  infamy,  they 
came  in  contact,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1856, 
with  old  John,  at  a  place  on  the  Sante  Fe 
road  known  as  Black  Jack.  Whether 
any  portion  of  Brown's  .force  was  with 
him  at  the  massacre,  the  writer  has  no 
means  of  knowing.  A  collision  caine 
on.  Oapt.  Shore,  who  had  been  watch 
ing  Capt.  Pate's  movements  after  leaving 
Prairie  City,  with  some  CO  men,  put  in  an 
appearance  at  a  very  opportune  moment 
inr  the  safety  of  the  ''Liberator;  a  very 
animated  skirmish  followed;  Pate  and 
his  command  were  captured.  ^ Here  oc 
curred  the  famous  "battle  of  Black  Jack," 
in  which  Brown  is  represented  as  an  in 
vincible  hero;  instead  of  being  arrested  for 
murder,  with  the  aid  of  the  very  large 
force  of  Capt.  Shore,  aided  by  Capt. 
Me  whinny,  the  pro-slavery  marauders 
\vere  captured.  Pate  was  soon  after  re- 
released  by  United  States  troops,  under 
Col.  Sumner,  and,  with  a  severe  repri 
mand,  was  ordered  home  to  Missouri.  x 

On  the  6th  of  June,  still  in  pursuit  of 
the  Pottawotomie  murderers, was  ''fought" 
what  is  known  in  Kansas  history,  as  the 
first  battle  of  Osawotomie;  but  the  light 
consisted  in  a  retreat  of  the  pursued  to 
the  timber, — "skedaddling,"  we  used  to 
call  it  on  the  border, — while  the  pursuers 
ransacked  and  pillaged  the  town;  and 
yet  old  John  Brown  is  lauded  by  his  bio 
graphers  as  the  hero  of  this  occasion,  as  he 
was  at  Black  Jack,thoughhe  sought  safe 
ty  in  the  covert  of  the  wood,as  the  others 
diu.  This  statement  I  had  confirmed 
while  writing  these  pages,  by  a  gen 
tleman  from  Kansas,  visiting  friends 
in  Rockford,  who  was  in  the  bush 
with  the  other  Free  State  men,  and  who, 
ij-  answer  to  my  direct  inquiry,  said 


there  was  not  a  gun  fired  in  defense  on 
that  day.  And  thus  heroes  are  made,  on 
small  occasions.  And  thus  great  battles 
are  fought — on  paper. 
^The  so-called  "second  battle  of  Osawo 
tomie"  occurred  on  the  29th  of  August, 
1856.  It  was  precipitated  on  the  town 
by  an  attack,  by  residents  and  others, 
driving  off  a  party  of  Buford's  men,  who 
were  encamped  near,  and  who,  like  their 
associates  all  over  the  Territory,  were 
guilty  of  every  variety  of  wickedness. 
These  men  deserved  severe  punishment 
wherever  found,  during  their  stay  in 
Kansas.  Their  expulsion,  however, 
aroused  the  war  spirit  again ;  again  in 
flammatory  appeals  were  made  to  Mis- 
sourians;  another  invasion  was  planned, 
and  on  the  29th  of  August,  1856,  under 
the  command  of  Gen.  John  W.  Reed,  of 
Independence,  Mo.,  with  some  four, 
hundred  followers,  Osawotomie  was  at-' 
tacked.  The  citizens  under  various  com 
mands,  in  companies  of  ten  to  fifteen 
from  the  thick  undergrowth  surrounding 
the  town,  fired  upon  the  invaders,  and 
they,  thinking  "prudence  the  better 
part  of  valor,"  made  a  speedy 
retreat.  Probably  this  repulsed  army, 
of  400,  became  the  nucleus  of  the  2,700 
which  marched  on  Lawrence  on  the  14th 
of  September.  The  general  understand 
ing  in  Kansas  was  that  Old  John  exhib 
ited  good  fighting  qualities  at  Osawoto 
mie.  He  was  engaged  in  a  good  cause, 
but  whether  he  deserved  more  applause 
than  Capt.  Cli&e,  Dr.  Updegraff,  or  any 
other  brave  man  there,  the  writer  has  no 
knowledge. 

How  many  cases  of  violence,  consist 
ing  of  murders,  arsons,  robberies,  rapes, 
&c.,  were  perpetrated  during  that  sum 
mer,  which  had  their  origin  in  excited 
passions,  influenced  by  these  transactions 
on  the  Pottawotomie,  no  human  historian 
will  ever  know.  It  was  the  pro-slavery 
purpose  to  drive  out  the  Free  State  set- 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


tiers.  They  sought  every  pretext  in  their 
reach  to  justify  their  aggressions.  The 
great  misfortune  was  that  too  many  of 
these  were  offered,  and  that  the  innocent 
had  to  suffer  for  the  violence  of  his  guilty 
neighbor. 

NOT   LIMITED   TO   KANSAS. 

The  effect  of  this  massacre  on  the  pros 
perity  of  Kansas  was  not  limited  to  that 
Territory.  A  national  party,  with  pow 
erful  anti-slavery  proclivities,  had  recent 
ly  sprung  into  being.  It  undertook  the 
task  of  defending  and  sustaining  the 
struggling  Free  State  men,  who  had 
thrown  themselves  into  the  mighty 
chasm,  made  by  the  repeal  of  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  oi  1820.  These  Free 
State  men  had  resolved  that  the  princi 
ples  involved  in  that  settlement  of  a  vexed 
question,  by  their  fathers,  should  still  be 
maintained;  that  the  broad  and  beautiful 
prairies  of  Kansas  should  never  be  cursed 
by  the  tread  of  the  slave.  They  had  gone 
from  the  comforts  of  their  Eastern  homes ; 
had  sacrificed  business  long  established ; 
had  broken  loose  from  all  social  and  re 
ligious  organizations,  and  abandoned 
parties  to  which  they  were  dearly  at 
tached,  and  formed  a  new  one,  with  the 
single  motto  of  *'  Kansas  a  Free  State." 
Now  a  new  party  was  organized  in  the 
States,  or.t  of  remnants  of  old  ones,  with 
the  principle  written  in  its  platform,  and 
emblazoned  on  its  flag,  and  borne  aloft 
by  its  standard  bearer,  "  No  more  Slave 
States,  No  More  Slave  Territory;  Free 
dom  to  the  Republic,  JUSTICE  TO  KAN 
SAS  !" 

But  on  the  very  eve  of  the  first  organi 
zation  of  that  party,  while  every  pulsa 
tion  of  the  genuinely  good  was  beating 
in  full  sympathy  with  "bleeding  Kansas," 
and  they  were  solemnly  determined  to 
right  our  wrongs,  and  correct  the  abuses 
of  false  legislation,  they  were  in  -t  with 
these  excesses  by  the  men  they  would 
serve ! 


The  horrible  details  of  that  midnight 
butchery  on  the  Pottawotomie,  were 
dwelt  upon,  and  passed  from  mouth  to 
mouth ;  the  opposition  press,  both  North 
and  South,  took  up  the  damning  tale  and 
passed  it  on.  Whole  columns  of  leaders 
Irom  week  to  week,  with  startling  head 
lines,  liberally-distributed  capitals,  and 
frightful  exclamation  points,  filled  all  the 
newspapers;  while  each  public  speaker, 
who  wished  to  inflame  the  already  excit 
ed  populace,  in  glowing  rhetoric,  would 
depict  the  ghastly  spectacle  of  five  men 
torn  from  their  beds  at  midnight,  and 
ruthlessly  slaughtered  by  savage,  fero 
cious  and  unfeeling  Free  State  men. 

The  Republicans  denied  the  allega 
tions;  they  set  up  an  alibi;  they  charged 
the  butchery  and  mutilation  on  the 
Camanches;  they  said  the  killing  was 
done  in  self-defense;  they  apologized  for 
it  in  various  ways ;  when  forced  to  the 
wall  they  attempted  justification;  but, 
meet  it  as  they  would,  there  was  the  ap 
palling  outrage;  the  deep,  dark  and 
damning  bloodspots  which  would  not 
disappear  at  their  bidding. 

When  the  autumn  elections  came  on, 
so  successful  had  the  opposition  been  in 
ringing  these  charges  on  the  country, 
the  friends  of  Kansas  were  overborne  by 
superior  numbers,  ami  another  four  years 
of  misrule  by  the  Democratic  party, 
under  its  corrupt  leaders,  was  inaugu 
rated.  The  oppressed  in  Kansas  saw 
another  term  of  struggle  and  violence  be 
fore  them. 

As  an  actor  in  those  exciting  times, 
watching  the  progress  of  the  political 
canvass  from  my  prairie  prison,  surround 
ed  continually  by  the  gleam  of  the  sabre, 
the  musket  and  bayonet  of  Federal 
troops,  with  a  large  list  of  exchanges  for 
the  Herald  cf  Freedom,  daily  received  in 
camp,  and  little  to  do  but  read  them,  I 
do  solemnly  aver  and  believe,  twenty  four 
years  thereafter,  that  had  it  not  been  for 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


27 


the  massacre  of  the  three  Doyles,  of 
Wilkinson  and  Sherman,  by  self- 
styled  Free  State  men  on  far.  Pot- 
tawotomie,  the  Republican  party 
would  have  been  successful  in  that  mem 
orable  campaign  of  1856,  and  our  period 
of  enslavement  would  have  been  four 
years  abridged.  But  perhaps  we  should 
take  cheer  from  classic  story,  and 
"Weep  not  for  the  lost  leaves  of  Cybele." 

As  the  horrors  ot  the  Spanish  Inquisi 
tion;  the  bloody  butcheries,  martyrdoms, 
crimes  and  excesses  of  the  middle  ages, 
with  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  at 
a  later  period,  paved  the  way,  and  added 
new  impetus  to  the  Reformation,  which 
gave  rise  to  subsequent  liberal  thought, 
with  full  toleration  of  all  forms  of  relig 
ious  and  non-religious  faith,  and  a  larger 
comprehension  of  man's  final  destiny;  so 
the  outcome  of  this  awful  tragedy  traced 
by  the  pen  of  the  casuist,  shows  the  de 
feat  of  Republicanism  in  1856;  the  pro 
longation  of  our  Kansas  ills;  the  rebel 
lion  ;  a  nation  rolled  in  blood  ;  the  con 
flagration  of  cities;  the  complete  upheaval 
of  society;  crimes  unparalleled  in  the 
world's  history;  general  bankruptcy;  and 
every  heart  filled  with  deepest  woe.  In 
bold  and  cheering  contrast  we  have  the 
diseuthralment  of  a  race;  the  greater 
freedom  of  the  masses;  education  more 
widely  diffused ;  larger  religious  liberty, 
and  a  more  glorious  future  than  was  ever 
before  witnessed  by  aspiring  humanity, 
or  predicted  by  inspired  prophet. 

As  well,  however,  to  give  credit  to 
Torquemada,  the  father  of  the  Inquisi 
tion,  for  our  present  religious  freedom,  as 
to  old  John  Brown,  and  the  massacre  on 
the  Pottawotomie,  for  the  freedom  of 
Kansas,  or  our  present  and  prospective 
piosperity. 

THE  SUMMER  OF   1856. 

How  Capt.  Brown  spent  the  summer  of 
1850,  other  than  avoiding  an  arrest,  and 
with  his  "twelve  or  fifteen  new  recruits," 


as  he  calls  his  army,  defending  Osawo- 
tomie,  we  have  but  little  knowledge.  He 
represents  that  in  that  "bloody  battle" 
there  were,  of  the  invaders,  "thirty-one  or 
two  killed,  and  from  forty  to  fifty  wound 
ed."  This  assertion  was  as  positively  de 
nied  by  the  attacking  party.  It  is  cer 
tain  there  were  three  killed  on  the  Free 
State  side,  to  wit:  Fred  Brown,  Mr.  Part 
ridge  and  Mr.  Williams. 

Sometime  during  the  summer  of  1856T 
a  Santa  Fe  train  was  captured  by  Free 
State  men.  These  trains  consisted,  usu 
ally,  of  twenty  to  sixty  very  lar^e 
wagons,  carrying  some  two  or  more  tons 
of  freight,  consisting  of  general  merchan 
dise,  drawn  by  six  mules.  The  wagona 
were  covered  with  white  canvas,  and 
when  moving  over  the  prairies,  stretched 
out  over  a  long  distance.  The  sight  was 
truly  imposing.  Minus  the  speed  they 
would  remind  the  observer  of  the  immense 
freight  trains  of  the  Atchison  and  Santa 
Fe  Railroad  moving  in  the  same  direc 
tion  to-day. 

These  mule  trains  were  fitted  out  im 
Westport,  Mo.,  and  Kansas  City,  and 
through  them  was  carried  on  the  almost 
limitless  commerce  between  the  States 
and  New  Mexico. 

Who  was  concerned  in  the  capture  of 
this  train  mentioned  I  never  knew,  as  I 
was  a  prisoner  at  the  time,  and  our  field 
of  observation  was  not  large.  The  Free 
State  newspapers  of  the  Territory  were 
all  suspended,  and  it  is  even  questiona 
ble  if  mention  would  have  been  made  of 
it,  for  prudential  reasons,  had  all  been  in 
successful  operation;  for  we  were  ex 
tremely  careful,  in  those  exciting  times, 
not  to  expose  the  dereliction  or  excesses 
of  our  own  party  friends.  If  I  don't  for 
get  it,  and  a  good  place  occurs,  I  will 
tell  "A  Case  in  Point,"  at  a  considerable 
later  date,  in  illustration. 

The  magnitude,  however,  of  the  c^i>ture 


28 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN 


of  an  entire  Santa  Fe  train  made  a  little 
riffle  of  excitement  at  the  time,  and  the 
responsibility  with  the  public  seemed 
divided  between  Dr.  Ephraim  Cutter,  E. 
B.  Whitman  and  old  John  Brown. 
Whether  any  or  all  of  these  personages 
wore  concerned  in  the  capture,  I  do  not 
know;  but  I  have  an  indefinite  recollec 
tion  that  there  was  a  wordy  quarrel,  or 
misunderstanding  at  least,  between  the 
parties  implicated,  in  regard  to  the  divis 
ion  of.  plunder.  My  only  reason  for 
thinking  John  Brown  was  not  concerned 
in  it,  is  that  I  find  no  mention  of  it  in 
'•Rcdpath's  Life  of  the  Captain,"  whereas 
had  the  "Liberator"  been  even  the  hum 
blest  private  in  the  affair,  he  would  have 
been  magnified  into  a  leader;  the  details 
of  the  capture  would  have  extended 
through  several  chapters,  describing  each 
incident  of  the  battle,  the  various  strat 
egical  movements  employed  to  surround 
the  "greasers,"  the  deafening  roar  of  mus 
ketry,  the  clash  of  crossed  sabres,  the 
wild  shrieks  of  the  captors,  the 
dying  groans  of  the  defeated  teamsters, 
closing  with  a  poem  in  Homeric  verse, 
from  that  brilliant  poet  Raelf,  preserving 
in  song  for  future  ages  a  glowing  account 
of  the  gallant  affair.  He  could  not  have 
-done  less  than  quoted  the  last  stanza 
from  "Brown's  Address  to  His  Men ;" 
page  156,  of  his  "Life  of  Brown:'' 

We  must  conquer,  we  rnnst  slaughter, 

We  are  God's  rod,  and  His  ire 
Wille  their  blood  nhall  flow  like  water 

In  Jehovah's  dread  name — Fire! 

This  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of 
"what  the  brilliant  historian  could  have 
clone  with  a  very  trifling  capital.  As 
Redpath  was  not  in  the  Territory  at  the 
time,  and  the  Byronic  poet  did  not  arrive 
until,  I  think  the  10th  of  October  follow 
ing,  this  may  account  for  the  loss  of  this 
glowing  description  ot  the  event. 
JOHN  BKOWN'S  BIOGRAPHER. 

I  have  had  frequent  occasion   to  refer 


to,  or  quote  from  "Relpatlfs  Life  of 
John  Brown,"  and  shall  have  still  further 
use  for  him,  as  we  advance  with  these 
"Reminiscences."  The  reader  must  of 
course  desire  to  know  the  character  of 
the  author,  and  the  stand- pointf  from 
which  he  wrote.  I  take  pleasure  in  furn 
ishing  this  information,  by  stating  that 
Redpath  claimed  great  intimacy  with 
Brown  in  Kansas;  was  an  indorser  of  the 
invasion  at  Harper's  Ferry;  wrote  largely 
in  its  interest;  was  selected  by  the  John 
Brown  family  to  write  a  "Life"  of  their 
head;  into  whose  hands,  the  letters,  writ 
ings  and  sketches  of  the  Captain  were 
placed;  and  who  agreed  to  divide  the 
profits  accruing  from  the  sale  of  the 
book  with  the  family.  Under  the  head 
of  Professional  Letter  Writers,  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  mention  Mr.  Redpath 
again. 

In  1859,  Redpath  published  a  book  of 
365  pages,  entitled  "The  Roving  Editor." 
It  came  from  the  press  sometime  be 
fore  the  Harper's  Ferry  raid  of  Old  John. 
From  some  pages  it  is  very  evident  the 
book  was  prepared  with  special  purpose 
to  encourage  and  incite  a  servile  insur 
rection. 

I  copy  from  page  306  of  that  revolu 
tionary  book : — 

"But  is  insurrection  possible?" 

"I  believe  that  it  is.  The  only  thing 
that  has  hitherto  prevented  a  universal 
revolt,  is  the  impossibility  of  forming  ex 
tended  combinations.  This  the  slave  code 
effectually  prevents.  To  attain  this  end, 
therefore,  the  agency  of  white  men  is 
needed." 

"Are  there  men  ready  for  this  holy 
work?" 

"I  thank  God  that  there  are.  There  are 
men  who  are  tired  of  praising  the  French 
patriots — who  are  ready  to  be  Lafayettes 
and  Kosciuskos  to  the  slaves." 

"Do  you  ask  for  a  programme  of 
action?" 

"The  negroes  and  Southrons  have 
taught  us.  The  slaves  of  the  Dismal 
Swamp,  the  maroons  of  Florida,  the 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


Free-State  men  of  Kansas,  have  pointed* 
out  the  method.  The  South  committed 
suicide  when  it  compelled  the  free  squat 
ters  to  resort  to  guerilla  warfare,  and  to 
study  it  both  <ts  a  mode  of  subsistence  and 
a  science.  For  the  mountains,  the  swamps 
and  morasses  of  the  South,  are  peculiarly 
adapted  to  this  mode  of  combat,  and 
there  are  a  number  of  joung  men  trained 
to  the  art  in  the  Kansas  ravines,  who  are 
eager  for  an  opportunity  of  avenging 
their  slain  comrades,  on  the  real  authors 
of  their  death,  in  the  forests  and  planta 
tions  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia." 

"Will  you  aid  them — will  you  sustain 
them?  Are  you  in  favor  of  a  servile  insur 
rection  ? 

"Tell  God  in  acts." 

This  book  from  which  I  cite  is  dedi 
cated  by  Red  path  "To  Captain  John 
Brown,  of  Kansas."  On  the  fourth  page 
of  the  Dedication,  at  its  close,  he  sa>  s : — 

"You  went  to  Kansas  when  the  trouble 
broke  out  there — not  to  'settle'  or  'specu 
late' — or  from  idle  curiosity;  but  for  one 
stern,  solitary  purpose— to  have  a  shot  at 
the  South.  So  did  I. 

"To  you,  therefore,  my  senior  in  years 
as  in  service  to  the  slave,  I  dedicate  this 
work." 

Under  the  sub-head  of  "My  Object," 
page  300,  Redpath  informs  us  why  he 
traveled  through  the  South  belore  going 
to  Kansas,  in  1855,  and  says  it  was  to 
"disseminate  discontentment"  among  the 
slaves  on  certain  conditions,  which  he 
names.  He  then  adds : 

"I  believed  that  a  civil  war  between 
the  North  and  South  would  ultimate  in 
insurrection,  and  that  the  Kunsas  troubles 
would  probably  create  a  military  conflict 
of  the  sections.  Hence  I  left  the  South, 
and  went  to  Kansas ;  and  endeavored,  per 
sonally  and  by  my  pen,  to  precipitate  a  rev 
olution.  That  we  failed — for  I  was 
not  alone  in  this  desire — was  owing 
to  the  influence  of  prominent  Republican 
statesmen,  whose  unfortunately  conserva 
tive  character  of  counsel — which  it  was 
impossible  to  openly  resist  —effectually 
baffled  all  our  hopes:  hopes  which  Demo 
cratic  action  was  auspiciously  promot 
ing." 

The  insurrection  was  finally  set  on  foot 


in  the  South,  agreeably  to  Red  path's 
plans.  He  was  a  valiant  warrior  on 
paper;  the  inciter,  aider  and  abettor  of  a 
servile  and  warlike  revolution,  as  shown 
by  the  foregoing  extracts;  yet  he  was  not 
there  to  lead,  or  assist,  or  in  any  manner 
to  endanger  his  own  person,  but  realized 
the  oft-quoted  couplet  of  Hudibras,  that 
"He  who  fights  and  runs  away, 
May  live  to  fight  another  day." 

I  am  glad  to  do  justice  to  Redpath, 
and  say  that  after  the  execution  of  his 
patron  saint;  after  he  discovered  that  the 
public  did  not  sanction  his  wild  schemes 
of  murder  and  violence;  and  after  he  had 
written  the  "Life  of  John  Brown,"  he  en 
gaged  in  the  Hayti  emigration  move 
ment,  and  published  in  Boston,  a  paper 
entitled  The  Pine  and  Palm.  The  follow 
ing  extracts  from  that  paper  I  made  at 
the  time  of  its  publiation,  but  neglected 
to  note  its  date.  It  is  in  words  following : 

"A  PREPARATORY  WORD. — Having  be 
come  sincerely  convinced  that  many  of 
the  political  doctrines  that  I  have  advo 
cated  in  my  writings  are  dangerous  and 
abhorrent  to  the  higher  insight— the  mur 
derous  policy,  for  example,  of  inciting 
the  slaves  to  insurrection  which  I  have 
urged  repeatedly,  and  with  terrible  mis 
taken  zeal — I  wish  to  announce  here 
that  I  shall  retire  from  any  participation 
in  the  political  management  of  this  jour 
nal,  excepting  for  the  purpose  of  retract 
ing  past  errors,  until  such  time  as  I  feel 
that  I  have  attained  a  clearer  and  more 
humane  and  Christian  view  of  the  duties 
of  the  freeman  to  the  enslaved . 

"I  shall  confine  myself  exclusively  to 
the  editing  of  the  outside  pages  of  the 
paper.  The  name  of  the  acting  editors 
will  be  duly  announced. — The  articles 
signed  with  an  (*)  were  mine;  of  these  I 
will  retract  many;  my  associates,  who  in 
dicate  their  respective  writings  by  the 
initial  L.,  and  by  the  marks  f,  J,  §,  are 
alone  responsible  for  their  thoughts  thus 
labeled.  I  repudiate  my  war  doctrines, 
utterly  and  forever. 

"JAMES  REDPATH." 

In  a  later  number  of  The  Piis  and 
Palm,  I  find  a  longer  statement,  in  which 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  liROWN. 


R  djmth  gives  the  reason  for  the  sudden 
change  in  his  views.     I  quote  briefly : 

"It  is  right  now  that  I  should  confess, 
publicly  and  contritely,  that  my  recent 
chancre  in  political  policy  proceeds  solely 
and  irresistibly  from  a  change  of  heart — 
from  an  acceptance,  fully  and  unreserved, 
of  the  doctrines  and  plan  of  salvation  of 
our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ.  *  * 
Not  the  blood  of  the  slaveholder,  but  the 
blood  of  the  Redeemer,  can  truly  free 
the  slave.  *  :|:  Hitherto  I  have  con 
ducted  this  movement  (Haytien  emigra 
tion,)  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  man; 
henceforth  I  shall  seek  to  conduct  it  as  a 
duty  to  God  and  man.  May  his  Holy 
Spirit  guide,  direct,  and  uphold  me ! 
JAMES  REDPATH." 

In  another  clipping,  which  I  made 
about  the  same  time,  a  like  confession 
was  made  in  regard  to  another  very  bad 
habit  he  had  fallen  into  touching  his 
veracity.  This  vice  had  grown  upon  him 
until  it  seemed  a  part  of  his  being.  In 
the  burning  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
building  and  contents,  at  the  Quantrell 
Raid  on  Lawrence,  in  1863,  all  the  files  of 
my  papers  were  wholly  consumed,  with 
bound  volumes  of  many  other  Kansas 
journals  which  I  had  carefully  preserved. 
There  were  also  a  large  and  choice  col 
lection  ot  excerpts  saved  for  future  use, 
among  which  probably  was  the  one  re 
ferred  to,  and  it  was  lost.  I  greatly  re 
gret  this,  for  then  I  could  have  done  this 
famous  letter  writer,  biographer  and 
author  further  valuable  service.  That  he 
was  sincerelyucontrite"  for  this  evil  habit, 
at  the  time  lie  wrote,  there  is  no  doubt. 
I  hope  his  reformation  was  permanent. 

JOHN  BROWN,  JR. 

John  Brown.  Jr.,  and  H.  H.  William 
were  brought  into  the  camp,  near  Le- 
compton,  about  the  KHh  of  June,  1856 
and  were  held  as  prisoners  with  us.  They 
were  indicted  on  the  27th  of  May,  at 
Paola,  then  Lykins  county,  charged  with 
"conspiracy  to  resist  the  collection  of 


taxes."  John  was  also  suspicioned  with 
responsibility  for  the  Pottawotomie  mur 
ders,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  there  was  no 
truth  whatever  in  this  allegation.  He 
became  an  occupant  of  my  tent,  and 
remained  with  me  some  time  after  he 
was  brought  into  camp.  He  was  partly 
insane ;  his  mind  seemed  continually  run 
ning  on  the  Pottawotomie  massacre,  and 
he  appeared  to  suppos'  h«  was  under 
arrest  for  that  offence.  During  the 
entire  period  he  was  with  us — 
nearly  three  months — whenever  that 
event  was  mentioned  in  his  hear 
ing  his  eyes  would  flash  and  sparkle 
like  a  madman's.  He  would  exhibit  the 
wildest  excitement,  and  express  himself, 
in  the  severest  terms  at  the  enormity  of 
the  outrage.  On  several  occasions  I  at 
tempted  to  ally  his  irritation  by  offering 
an  apology  for  it.  He  replied  invariably : 
"There  can  be  no  apology  for  such  a  trans 
action.  Every  feature  of  it  was  too  bar 
barous  to  admit  of  an  apology."  And 
then  I  would  divert  his  mind  as  speedily 
as  possible,  engage  his  thoughts  on  some 
other  subject,  when  he  would  graduully 
regain  his  composure. 

In  his  ravings  about  these  murders  on 
the  Pottawotomie,  John,  Jr.,  told  me  of 
the  incidents  lying  between  his  disband 
ing  his  command,  when  the  news  of 
the  massacre  reached  him,  on  the  morn 
ing  after  its  committal,  until  his  arrest. 
He  said  his  best  friends  in  Osawotomie 
turned  the  l'cold  shoulder"  on  him, 
when  he  arrived  in  the  town  ;  a  pub 
lic  meeting  of  Free  State  men  was 
soon  held,  which  repudiated  it,  and  de 
nounced  the  actors;  he  called  on  his  wife 
and  child,  and  made  his  way  to  the  bot 
tom  lands,  where  he  secreted  himself  be 
hind  logs  and  trees.  He  forded  the  river 
several  times  to  avoid  exposure.  A  se 
vere  storm  of  rain  and  lightning  came 
on,  and  he  thought,  in  the  flashes,  he 
could  see  his  pursuers.  He  said  he 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


31 


suffered  for  food;  but  his  wife  occasional 
ly  found  and  relieved  him.  Finally,  at  the 
suggestion  of  his  friends,  he  voluntarily 
surrendered  himself  to  the  civil  authori 
ties,  and  was  taken  in  charge  by  federal 
tioops.  He  was  removed  to  Paola; 
thence  to  Tecumseh,  where  he  had  a  hear 
ing  before  U.  S.  Commissioner  Hoag- 
land,  and  was  sent  to  camp  for  safe  keep 
ing.  He  represented  that  he  was  bound 
with  ropes  and  chains,  and  was  compelled 
to  "  trot  along,"  thus  bound,  between  two 
horsemen,  for  forty  miles,  in  a  hot  June 
sun.  How  much  of  these  statements 
were  real,  and  how  much  imaginary,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  determine.  His 
friends,  outside  of  Kansas,  say  he  was 
made  insane  by  the  cruel  treatment 
he  received  as  a  prisoner,  and 
John  himself  is  still  laboring  under 
that  delusion ;  but  I  think  his  insanity 
was  induced  by  the  severe  fatigue  inci 
dent  to  his  long  and  exciting  march 
towards  Lawrence;  the  nervous  shock  he 
received  when  informed  of  the  sacking 
of  that  town-,  and  his  wearisome  return 
iouruey;  the  news  of  the  massacre  falling 
so  unexpectedly  on  an  extremely  sensi 
tive  -nature,  followed  by  being  suspi- 
cioned  by  his  friends  as  an  accomplice ; 
and  his  exposure,  loss  of  sleep  and  anx 
iety  of  mind  while  hiding  from  his  pur 
suers.  I  am  sustained  in  these  opinions 
by  the  letter  of  old  John  Brown,  directed 
to  Mr.  Sanborn,  already  quoted,  under 
the  head  of  "Newly  Discovered  Evi 
dence."  Speaking  of  his  being  accused 
ot  the  murders,  Brown  continues : 

"John's  company  soon  afterwards  dis 
banded,  and  also  the  Osawotomie  men. 
John  tried  to  hide  for  several  days,  but 
from  the  feelings  of  the  ungrateful  con 
duct  of  those  who  ought  to  have  stood  by 
him,  excessive  fatigue,  anxiety;  and  loss 
of  sleep,  became  quite  insane,  and  in  that 
condition  gave  up,  or,  as  we  are  told,  was 
betrayed  at  Osawotomie  into  the  hands 
of  the  Bogus  men." 


John  told  me  during  his  confinement, 
of  a  plan,  on  the  part  of  his  father,  to 
carry  the  war  into  Missouii.  He  showed 
that  in  his  estimation  the  scheme  was  a 
practical  one  to  make  slave  property  val 
ueless  on  the  other  side  of  the  Territorial 
line.  He  reasoned  that  a  constant  agita 
tion,  by  running  off  the  negroes,-  would 
make  slave  property  so  insecure  that  the 
large  holders  would  be  compelled  to 
either  emancipate  their  "chatties,1'  or  sell 
them  South.  In  either  contingency  it 
would  ultimate  in  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  that  State.  In  fact  the  whole 
plan  of  a  servile  insurrection  was  devel 
oped  in  these  .conversations,  his  father 
being  the  leader,  identical  in  every  es 
sential  particular  with  that  which,  three 
years  later,  was  attempted  in  Virginia, 
the  difference — Missouri  was  the  point  of 
attack  instead  of  Virginia;  and  the  prai 
ries  of  Kansas  were  the  base  of  opera 
tions  instead  of  the  mountains  of  the  Old 
Dominion. 

John's  wife  and  young  son  came 
into  camp  a  short  time  after  his  arrival, 
and  remained  until  the  discharge  of  the 
treason  prisoners,  on  the  10th  of  Septem 
ber,  on  our  personal  recognizances. 
John,  Jr.,  and  Mr.  Williams  were  left  in 
custody.  The  difficulty  of  their  detention 
being  mentioned  to  the  Court  by  the  mil 
itary  officer  in  command,  they  were  al 
lowed  to  depart  on  giving  bail  in  the  sum 
of  $5,000  each.  I  acknowledged  myself 
bound  in  that  sum  for  John's  appearance. 
I  may  say  in  this  connection  the  bond 
was  forfeited ;  but  I  was  never  prosecuted 
under  it.  By  a  late  letter  of  Mr.  Brown's, 
I  observe  that  he  is  under  the  impression 
that  he  was  indicted  for  high  treason,  but 
this  is  a  mistake. 

On  breaking  up  camp  Mr.  Brown  and 
wife  accompanied  me  to  my  home  at 
Lawrence,  where  he  remained  for  a  few 
days  until  after  the  14th  ot  September 
invasion,  and  the  excitement  following  it 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN   BKO\VN. 


had  passed,  when,  with  his  wife,  father, 
and  brothers,  he  started  tor  the  States, 
going  north  to  Nebraska,  and  overland 
through  Iowa. 

GOV.     GEARY. 

Before  release  from  imprisonment,  on 
the  10th  of  September,  I  received  a  very 
interesting  letter  from  Hon.  Morrow  B. 
Lowry,  of  Erie,  Pa.,  whom  I  had  known 
from  boyhood,  accompanied  with  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Gov.  Geary.  Mr. 
Lowry  had  always  acted  with  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  until  the  nomination  of  John 
C.  Fremont,  when,  resolved  to  aid  in 
righting  the  wrongs  done  to  Kansas,  he 
gave  his  earnest  support  to  the  Repub 
lican  leader.  Mr.  Lowry  requested  me  to 
present  the  letter  ot  introduction  to  our 
new  Governor,  as  soon  as  possible  after 
his  arrival  in  the  Territory.  He  wrote 
that  he  knew  Col.  Geary  intimately;  had 
served  one  term  with  him  in  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Legislature;  that  he  was  a  gentle 
man  in  the  full  sense  of  that  term,  and 
that  the  Free  Statj  men  could  rely  upon 
his  integrity  and  honor.  He  desired  me 
to  give  him  my  confidence  and  receive 
his.  He  stated  he  had  written  Gov. 
Geary  in  a  similar  spirit  in  regard  to  my 
self. 

Gov.  Geary  arrived  at  Leavenworth  on 
the  9th  of  September,  on  the  10th  reached 
Lecompton,  and  on  Friday,  the  12th,  vis 
ited  Lawrence.  I  met  him  at  the  Cincin 
nati  House;  presented  him  Mr.  Lowry 's 
letter,  and  had  a  brief  interview.  The 
Governor  mentioned  that  he  received,  on 
the  eve  of  leaving  his  home  for  Kansas, 
a  letter  from  his  friend  Lowry  in  regard 
to  me,  and  that  he  would  take  great 
pleasure  in  favoring  me  in  any  way  in  his 
power. 

The  Governor  had  already  distributed 
large  numbers  of  his  proclamations, 
ordering  all  bodies  of  armed  men  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  retire  to  their 


homes  and  ordinary  occupations.  lie  de 
clared  his  intention  to  protect  the  Terri 
tory  from  further  violence.  I  walked 
with  him  to  various  influential  citizens, 
whom  I  introduced.  In  answer  to 
questions  I  frequently  heard  propounded, 
"Governor,  do  you  think  it  is  safe 
for  us  to  go  to  our  homes,"  he  invariably 
replied :  "You  had  better  stay  in  town  a 
few  days  longer,  for  mutual  protection  ; 
but  be  careful  that  you  do  nothing  in  vio 
lation  of  the  spirit  of  my  proclamation. 
To  defend  yourselves  against  an  attack, 
will  not  incur  my  displeasure." 

On  that  afternoon,  or  the  following 
morning,  Gov.  Geary,  with  his  escort,  re 
turned  to  Lecompton. 

A    CRISIS    APPROACHING. 

At  the  time  Gov.  Geary's  arrival  in  the 
Territory,  Lawrence  was  a  military  camp. 
Woodson,  the  pro-slavery  Secretary,  un 
der  Gov.  Shannon,  was  the  acting  Gover 
nor,  and  was  running  things  with  a  high 
hand.  All  the  roads  leading  to  Lawrence 
were  blockaded  by  armed  bodies  of 
Southern  marauders,  and  every  day  vio 
lence  was  perpetrated  upon  Free  State 
citizens.  Guerilla  parties  of  Free  State 
men  were  also  roving  the  Territory,  com 
mitting  depredations  on  pro-slavery  men. 
Between  these  bodies  there  was  no  safety 
for  any  one. 

Gov.  Geary,  in  his  "  Farewell  Address 
to  the  People  of  Kansas,"  dated  March 
12,  1857,  manuscript  copy  of  which  was 
mailed  me  from  St.  Louis,  and  published 
in  the  Herald  of  Freedom  of  April  1 8th, '57, 
thus  graphically  and  truthfully  describes 
the  condition  of  the  Territory,  on 
his  first  arrival — the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing.  He  says : 

"  I  reached  Kansas,  and  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  my  official  duties  in  the 
most  gloomy  hour  of  her  history.  Deso- 
lution  and  ruin  reigned  on  every  hand ; 
homes  and  firesides  were  deserted;  the 
smoke  of  burning  dwellings  darkened 
the  atmosphere;  women  and  children, 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


dim-n  from  their   habitations,  wandered 

OVCT  tln>  prairies  and  among  the  wood 
lands,  or  sought  refuge  and  protection 
even  among  the  Indian  tribes.  The  high 
ways  were  infested  with  numerous  pre 
datory  bands,and  the  towns  were  fortified 
and  garrisoned  by  armies  of  conflicting 
partizans,  each  excited  almost  to  frenzy, 
and  determined  upon  mutual  extermina 
tion.  ;Such  was,  without  exaggeration, 
the  condition  of  the  Territory  at  the  pe 
riod  of  my  arrival." 

In  Lawrence,  where  the  people  had  re 
sorted  from  the  country  for  security,  the 
masses  were  subsisting  on  just  what  for 
aging  parties  could  pick  up  through  the 
country,  even  bringing  in  unthreshed 
wheat  and  oats,  treading  out  the  grain, 
and  grinding  in  coffee  mills.  Teams  sent 
to  Kansas  City  or  Leavenworth  for  sup 
plies  were  sure  to  be  confiscated  by  the 
Border  Ruffians,  and  the  teamsters  were 
robbed  and  outraged  in  some  form.  I 
think  there  were  full  800  Free  State  men 
in  town  on  the  Goyernor's  arrival;  and 
yet,  when  with  tears  in  their  eyes  I  heard 
parties  tell  the  Governor  the  necessitous 
condition  in  which  they  had  left  their 
families,  and  how  anxious  they  were  to  go 
to  their  relief, the  Governor  would  reply: 
"You  had  better  remain  in  Lawrence  a 
few  days  longer,  but  only  for  defence." 

I  will  not  at  this  time  detail  all  the 
facts  /  know  in  regard  to  this  subject,  as 
they  will  be  more  properly  treated  of  in 
my  "Reminiscences  of  Gen.  Lane,"  which 
I  am  invited  to  write.  /  will  say  that 
history  needs  correction,  badly,  at  this  point. 
Suffice  it  for  the  present,  the  entire  de 
fences  of  Lawrence  were  removed,  leav 
ing  not  to  exceed  two  hundred  men  in 
town,  and  (save  the  "  Stubbs,"  who  were 
armed  with  Sharp's  rifles,  and  who  I  wish 
to  say  were  always  on  hand  and  faithful 
to  every  trust,)  scarcely  any  organized 
force  whatever. 

ANOTHER  INVASION. 

Beginning  at  about  2  o'clock,  of  Sun 
day  afternoon,  the  14th  of  September, 


1856,  every  little  while  a  messenger 
would  arrive  in  Lawrence,  on  a  foaming 
steed,  from  the  direction  of  Missouri,  and 
in  hurried  words  state  that  a  large  body 
ot  armed  men  were  rapidly  marching  on 
the  town.  The  numbers  of  the  enemy 
were  variously  estimated  at  from  1,500  to 
2,000.  The  earnestness  in  which  the 
news  was  imparted,  the  appearance  of  the 
horses,  and  frequent  repetition  of  reports 
were  sufficient  assurances  of  danger. 
Several  expresses  were  quickly  dis 
patched,  by  different  routes,  to  Gov. 
Geary,  at  Lecompton,  one  of  which  I 
forwarded  with  a  note,  and  Gov.  Robin 
son  did  the  same  with  another.  Other 
parties  were  equally  active. 

Four  days  before,  the  treason  prisoners 
had  been  discharged,  leaving  Col.  Patrick 
St.  George  Cooke,  who  had  them  in  cus 
tody,  with  a  battery  and  lull  regiment 
of  United  States  cavalry  stationed  within 
two  miles  of  Lecompton.  Our  hopes  of 
succor  in  this  trying  moment  was  in  the 
interposition  of  these  troops  between  us 
and  the  invading  forces. 

The  Herald  of  Freedom  building  was  a 
high  three-story  structure,  with  stairs 
reaching  the  roof,  which  was  flat.  From 
this  point  I  watched  in  the  direction  from 
which  we  expected  the  enemy,  occasion 
ally  descending  to  mingle  with  the  citi 
zens  to  see  what  arrangements  were  be 
ing  made  for  defense.  The  ladies  in  my 
residence,  which  was  divided  from  the 
office  by  a  narrow  alley  only,  were  mak 
ing  cartridges,  while  others  were  bring 
ing  bullets  and  powder  from  neighboring 
places.  I  was  a  deeply  interested  party, 
for  teams  were  then  on  the  road  for  my 
new  press,  type  and  fixtures,  and  I  was 
soon  expecting  their  arrival,  v 

About  5  o'clock  a  large  party  of  horse 
men,  estimated  at  400,  were  seen  ap 
proaching  from  towards  Franklin.  They 
were  within,  probably,  two  miles  of  the 
town.  The  fact  was  announced,  when. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN   KliOWN. 


descending  from  my  point  of  observa 
tion,  taking  two  or  three  loaded  guns, 
accompanied  by  my  sister,  Mrs.  Mary 
A.  Mandell,  and  my  sister-in-law,  Miss 
A.  W.  Gleason,  they  bearing  cartridges, 
we  made  our  way  to  entrenchments 
thrown  up  in  the  autumn  previous,  I 
think,  near  Vermont  and  Henry  streets. 
"We  entered  one  ot  these  and  watched  ail 
that  transpired,  ready  to  sell  our  lives  as 
dearly  as  possible  in  defence  of  our 
homes  and  each  other.  I  remember  see 
ing  old  John  Brown  pass  near,  going 
towards  some  other  entrenchment;  but  I 
heard  no  speech,  no  directions,  no  coun 
sels,  no  command  of  any  character.  He 
wore  no  ensignia  of  rank,  and  carried 
neither  sword  or  gun.  Col.  J.  B.  Abbott 
was  understood  to  be  in  command.  Yet, 
as  the  forces  were  unorganized,  and  the 
feeling  was  universal  that  a  vigorous  and 
successful  defence  was  the  condition  on 
which  we  should  escape;  we  needed  no 
commander  in  such  an  emergency.  The 
threats  that  reached  us  were  that  we  were 
"to  be  wiped  out."  We  numbered  not  to 
exceed  two  hundred,  while  the  advancing 
enemy  was  believed  to  equal  four  hun 
dred,  #and  back  of  these  was  a  large 
army,  how  many  we  did  not  know.  «• 

As  the  invaders  neared  the  town  the 
Stubbs,  consisting  of  some  sixty  young 
men,  armed  with  Sharp's  rifles,  advanced 
to  meet  them.  rA  braver  or  truer  body 
of  men  never  set  foot  on  Kansas  soil. 
They  were  justly  the  pride  of  the  town. 
There  was  not  a  man  among  them  who 
would  not  have  deemed  it  a  pleasure  to 
die  in  preference  to  turning  his  face  from 
the  foe.  ""Many  of  these  men  afterwards 
fell  under  command  of  Col.  Deitzler,  at 
Wilson's  creek,  where  Gen.  Lyon  was 
killed.  Their  names  adorn  the  brightest 
pages  of  Kansas  history. 

The  Stubbs  fired  a  few  shots  at  the 
approaching  enemy,  and  one  of  the  in 
vaders  fell  from  his  horse,  which  galloped 


away  riderless.  At  this  occurrence  they 
retraced  their  steps  to  Franklin  and  're 
joined  the  main  army.  They  proved  to 
be  an  advanced  mounted  guard,  which 
had  gone  out  to  "feel"  of  the  Free  State 
men,  and  see  if  they  were  disposed  to  of 
fer  any  resistance  to  their  entering  the 
town.  v 

The  general  invading  force  had  been 
collected  from  various  points  in  Missouri, 
and  had  rendezvoused  at  Westport,  under 
Gen.  Heiskell,  responsive  to  a  proclama 
tion  from  Acting-Governor  Woodson. 
They  learned  from  spies,  who  were  at 
Lawrence,  on  the  arrival  of  Gov.  Geary, 
and  who  remained  until  Col.  Harvey,  in 
obedience  to  an  order  from  Gen.  Lane, 
had  crossed  the  river  and  gone  to  Hickory 
Point,  in  defiance  of  the  Governor's  proda 
mation,  taking  with  him  the  almost  entire 
defenses  of  the  town.  Dispatches,  it 
seems,  were  sent  to  Westport,  and  on  the 
12th,  the  enemy  set  out  determined  to 
reach  Lawrence  in  this  unprotected  con 
dition,  and  destroy  it  before  Gov.  Geary 
could  interpose  any  obstruction.  They 
had  purposed  to  reach  their  point  of 
destination  on  the  afternoon  of  Sunday, 
and  complete  their  bloody  work.  Instead, 
the  forty  miles  of  travel  for  a  large  body 
of  badly  organized  soldiery ,which  proved 
to  consist  of  2,700  men,  unaccustomed  to 
long  marches  delayed  them,  and  on  reach 
ing  Franklin  the  infantry  and  four  pieces 
of  cannon  were  halted,  while  the  cavalry 
advanced ;  seeing  a  fight  was  inevitable, 
returned  and  delayed  their  intended  as 
sault  upon  the  town  until  the  following 
morning. 

Reader,  be  patient.  I  am  trying  at 
this  point  to  correct  much  false  history, 
and  have  entered  into  greater  detail  than 
I  would  under  other  circumstances. 

FEDERAL  INTERPOSITION. 

About  9  o'clock  Sunday  night  the 
heavy  rumbling  of  wagons,  and  the  rapid 
clatter  of  horses'  hoofs,  descending  tli 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


35 


elevated  plat  eau  from  the  old  California 
road  to  Lawrence,  gave  assurance  that 
protection  had  reached  us  in  the  form 
of  the  United  States  cavalry,  a  battery  of 
six  cannon,  and  a  thousand  well-armed 
and  thoroughly  drilled  soldiers,  under 
the  command  of  that  brave  old  warrior, 
Col.  Cooke,  who,  two  years  after,  when 
tendered  the  command  of  the  rebel 
troops  of  Virginia,  by  the  Governor  of  his 
native  State,  in  substance  replied,  that 

"Though  I  love  m  y  mother,  on  whose 
bosom  I  was  nursed,  yet  I  owe  allegiance 
to  my  father  more,  who  reared  me,  gave 
me  my  military  education,  trusted  me 
with  a  commission  in  his  army,  under 
whose  flag  I  have  spent  the  best  years  of 
my  life,  and,  though  sorry  to  raise  an 
arm  against  her  who  gave  me  birth,  am 
resolved,  if  need  be,  to  die  in  that 
father's  defence." 

I  had  made  Col.  Cooker  acquaintance 
while  a  prisoner,  indeed  had  commenced 
writing  a  series  of  personal  sketches  of 
him,  for  publication,  which  he  himself 
kindly  furnished  me,  but  which  were  cut 
short,  long  before  their  completion,  by 
our  unexpected  discharge.  His  oppor 
tune  arrival  before  Lawrence,  relieved 
further  anxiety,  and,  like  hundreds  of 
other  weary  ones,  I  retired  for  the  night, 
after  seeing  the  troops  entering  camp  be 
tween  the  invaders  at  Franklin  and  our 
own  greatly  loved  pioneer  city  of  Kansas. 
GOV.  GEARY'S  STATEMENT. 

To  conclude  th's  narration,  Gov.  Geary 
told  me,  soon  after  the  events  I  have  re 
corded  transpired,  that  on  his  way  up  the 
Missouri  he  saw  these  invaders  organiz 
ing,  and  learned  they  were  marshaling 
their  forces  at  Westport,  Mo  ;  that  he 
hurried  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
prepared  his  proclamation  to  head  them 
oft,  and  resolved  that  no  injury 
should  come  to  Lawrence  in  any 
contingency;  that  this  was  the 
reason  he  suggested  to  persons 
inquiring  of  him  "thit  it  would  be  bet 
ter  to  remain  in  Lawrence  a  few  days 


longer,"  and  that  the  invaders  had  stolen 
a  march  on  him,  and  set  themselves  down 
before  the  town  several  days  earlier  than 
he  expected. 

The  Governor  said,   on  receipt   of   the 
first  note,  which  reached  him,  quite   late 
in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,    he    immedi 
ately  wrote  and  dispatched  to  camp,  two 
miles  distant,  the  following: 
EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  Lecompton,  Kan.T. 
Sept  14,  1856. 

COL.  P.  St.  GEORGE  COOKE  : — Remove 
your  entire  command,  with  all  possible 
dispatch,  to  Lawrence,  for  the  defence  of 
that  town.  I  will  accompany  you  in 
person.  JOHN  W.  GEARY,  Governor. 

Early    in  the  morning   of  the      15th, 

GOY.  Geary  issued  the  following  order: 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  Kansas  T.,   ) 

In  Camp  near  Lawrence,    > 

Sept.  15,  1856.   ) 

COL.  P.  St.  GEORGE  COOKE  :  Inter 
pose  your  command  before  Lawrence,and 
allow  no  armed  body  to  enter  that  town. 
Call  the  people  of  that  city  to  your  aid, 
if  yon  need  assistance.  Disregard  any  or 
der  coming  from  me  to  the  contrary,  un 
less  given  in  person. 

JOHN  W.  GEARY,  Governor  Kan.  T. 

Gov.  Geary,  with  a  small  escort,  ac 
companied  by  Col.  Cooke,  rode  to  Frank 
lin  and  had  an  interview  with  the  com 
manding  officers,  and  the  head  conspir 
ator,  Dave  Atchison.  They  claimed  to 
be  there  in  accordance  with  a  proclama 
tion  issued  by  Acting  Gov.  Woodson ; 
that  they  appeared  in  the  capacity  of 
Kansas  militia,  though  they  would  not 
deny  the  fact  that  they  came  from  Mis 
souri;  that  they  had  an  enrolled  force  ot 
2,400,  and  about  300  stragglers  who  were 
not  formally  organized,  but  would  do  ef 
fective  work  if  an  engagement  took 
place. 

The  Governor  caused  his  proclamation 
to  be  read  to  the  entire  force;  assured 
the  invaders  that  he  had  a  federal  force 
sufficient  to  maintain  the  peace  of  the 
Territory,  and  that  their  services  would 
not  be  required  in  that  direction. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN   BROWN. 


After  the  Governor  retired  the  leaders 
held  a  long  consultation,  and,  finally,  re 
luctantly  consented  to  retrace  their  steps 
to  Missouri.  A  portion  of  them  made 
the  circuitous  route  by  way  of  Lecomp- 
ton,  and  committed  gross  outrages  en 
route,  among  others  stealing  several 
horses,  and  murdering  a  gentleman  by 
the  name  of  Buffum.  Gov.  Geary  at 
tempted  to  bring  the  villains  to  justice, 
but  was  thwarted  through  the  interposi 
tion  of  a  corrupt  judiciary. 

THE   PRO-SLAVERY    ACCOUNT. 

I  compile  from  an  anonymous  writer  in 
the  St.  Louis  Evening  News  of  September 
24th,  the  following  version  of  this  affair 
from  a  "Border  Ruffian"  standpoint.  I 
use  the  language  of  the  writer,  only 
slightly  abridged :  — 

'•The  Missourians,  true  to  their  word, 
inarched  from  Westport,  on  the  •  13th,  to 
attack  Lawrence.  The  army  was  com 
posed  of  one  regiment  of  foot  and  two  of 
mounted  men — in  all  ?,400  men,  attended 
by  four  pieces  of  artillery.  Gen.  Heiskell 
was  in  command.  On  the  13th  and  14th, 
the  army  marched  forty  miles,  reaching 
Franklin,  four  miles  from  Lawrence. 
The  advance  guard,  when  about  three 
miles  from  Franklin,  was  fired  on  by  the 
picket  guard  of  the  Lawrence  army,  and 
one  man  was  killed.  The  main  body  was 
hurried  up  as  rapidly  as  possible,  for  the 
purpo-e  of  attacking  Lawrence  that  even 
ing.  By  the  time  it  reached  Franklin  it 
was  night,  and  the  contemplated  attack 
•was  postponed.  The  army  encamped  at 
Franklin,  intending  to  make  the  assault 
next  day,  the  15th. 

"At  midnight  an  express  arrived  with 
information  that  Col.  Cooke  had  been 
sent  by  Gov.  Geary,  who  was  urgently 
solicited  by  the  people  of  Lawrence  to 
interpose  for  their  protection. 

"On  the  15th  Gov.  Geary  arrived  at 
Franklin  and  had  a  consultation  with  the 
officers  of  the  invading  army.  He  told 
them  he  was  prepaired  to  enforce  the 
laws,  to  arrest  offenders,  crush  out  insur 
rection,  and  suppress  disorder  with  the 
aid  of  the  troops  under  his  command; 
that  the  interposition  of  the  troops  under 
Gen.  Heiskell  was  no  longer  necessary. 


In  view  of  these  facts  he  urged  the 
Missourians  to  disband,  and  abandon 
their  projected  attack  on  Lawrence. 

"Gen.  Atchison,  Gen.  Reid  and  Col. 
Titus  urged  compliance  witli  the  Gover 
nor's  proposal.  The  Governor  withdrew 
from  the  conference. 

"A  meeting  was  immediately  organ 
ized,  with  Gen.  Atchison  in  the  chair. 
Resolutions  were  passed  declaring  that 
relying  on  the  protection  promised  to 
peaceable  settlers  by  the  Governor,  th<jy, 
the  invading  «rmy,  would  disband  and 
return  to  their  homes." 

BEDPATH'S  STATEMENT. 

In  his  '-Life  of  Old  John  Brown/' 
Red  path  devotes  thirteen  pages  to  the  de 
tails  of  ''Brown's  Defence  of  Lawrence." 
To  read  it,  with  its  gorgerus  disp'ay  of 
rhetoric,  and  brilliant  scintillations  of 
genius,  not  omitting,  "not  fiction  but 
poetry"  as  Mrs.  Robinson  happily  styles 
it,  the  reader  would  suppose  that  there, 
in  Lawrence,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  14th 
of  September,  1850,  and  duiing  the  long 
night  which  followed,  was  fought  one  of 
the  most  destructive  battles  recorded  in 
American  history;  and  that  to  old  John 
Brown's  genius,  and  great  military  ex 
perience  and  gallantry, the  people  were  in  • 
debted  for  their  salvation,  and  the  city 
saved  from  complete  destruction.  I  quote 
from  page  163,  to  its  conclusion,  omitting 
all  the  fine  descriptions  not  necessary  to 
a  complete  comprehension  of  the  facts : 

"The  inquiry  was  next,  'Who  shall  be 
that  leader  ?'  *  *  It  was  no  sooner 
known  that  Capt.  Brown  was  in  town, 
than  he  was  unanimously  voted  generai- 
in-chief  for  the  day.  The  principal  por 
tion  of  the  people  had  assembled  in  Main 
street,  opposite  the  post  office ;  [There  is 
no  Main  street  in  Lawrence,]  and  Capt. 
Brown,  standing  upon  a  dry  goods  box 
in  their  midst,  addressing  them  some 
what  as  follows :  [Here  follows  a  speech. 
Probably  all  who  heard  it  were  killed  in 
the  terrible  fight(?)  which  followed.] 
*  *  Having  thus  taught  them  in  the 
arts  of  war,  he  commenced  his  prepara 
tions  for  defence.  *  *  Capt.  Brown 
was  always  active  and  on  the  alert,  visit 
ing  every  part  of  the  town,  and  all  the 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


fortifications,  in  person,  giving  directions, 
and  exhorting  every  man  to  keep  cool, 
and  do  his  duty,  and  his  reward  would 
be  an  approving  conscience.  *  * 
About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  their 
advance  guard,  consisting  of  400  horse 
men,  crossed  the  Wakarusa,  and  pre 
sented  themselves  in  sight  of  town  about 
two  miles  off,  where  they  halted,  and  ar 
ranged  themselves  for  battle,  fearing 
perhaps  to  come  within  too  close  range 
of  Sharp's  rifle  balls.  Brown's  move 
ments  now  were  a  little  on  the  offensive 
order,  for  he  ordered  out  all  the  Sharpe's 
riflemen  from  every  part  of  the  town — in 
all  not  more  than  forty  or  fifty — marched 
them  a  half  mile  into  the  prairie,  and 
arranged  them  three  paces  apart,  in  a  line 
parallel  with  that  of  the  enemy,  and 
then  they  lay  down  upon  their  faces  in 
the  grass."  *  * 

Let  us  leave  them  "lying  on  their 
faces,"  certainly  a  poor  couch,  skip  over 
all  the  intermediate  minute  descriptions 
of  incidents,  the  meeting  of  the  beliger- 
ents  "face  to  face,"  "half  a  mile  apart 
and  a  cornfield  between,"  the  hurrying 
down  of  the  sun  in  "anticipation  of  a 
fratricidal  strife,"  the  good  deeds  ot  the 
angel  in  "spreading  her  mantle  over  the 
earth,"  and  the  reflections  of  the  author 
in  regard  to  "the  distant  Aidenn,"  and, 
in  modern  parlance  "pitch  in"  the  thick 
est  of  the  fight.  Don  Quixote's  battle 
with  thr  wind  mills  waa  nowhere.  Lis 
ten  : 

"The  distance  now  between  the  con 
tending  armies  was  such  as  to  give 
Sharpe's  rifle  balls,  that  were  fired  with 
precision,  a  deadly  effect;  as  was  evinced 
by  the  fact  that  several  horses  were  found 
riderless.  In  a  few  moments  the  firing 
became  general,  and  in  the  darkness,  and 
otherwise  stillness  of  the  night,  the  con 
tinual  flash,  flash,  flash  of  these  engines 
of  death  along  the  line  of  living  fire,  pre 
sented  a  scene  the  appearance  of 
which  was  at  once  not  only  ter 
rible  but  sublimely  beautiful.  From 
fear  that  the  few  men  detailed  to 
meet  the  enemy  would  be  surrounded  in 
the  darkness,  by  the  superior  numbers  of 
horsemen,  and  cut  to  pieces,  a  twelve  • 
pound  brass  piece,  under  guard  of  twelve 


,(  was  sent  to  their  assistance;  but  be- 
lore  it  hail  arrived  upon  the  ground,  the 
foe  had  become  panic-stricken  and  fled." 

No  wonder,  for  the  brass  piece  men 
tioned  did  execution  that  day  some  twenty 
miles  distant,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hickory 
Point. 

I  will  not  disturb  the  slumbers  of  T., 
nor  the  historian  of  this  bloody  battle, 
nor  the  "  General-m  Chief,"  by  entering 
the  "  breast  work ;"  nor  listen  to  the  "  Lib 
erator's"  recital  of  his  trials  as  given  on 
pages  167-8,,  but  give  audience  at  once 
to  Richard  Raelf,  who.  Red  path  saysr 
"died  on  his  passage  from  England," 
where  he  had  gone  for  funds  to  aid  in 
the  Harper's  Ferry  Raid,  but  which  the 
newspapers  said  last  year,  had  just  sui 
cided  in  San  Francisco.  "  He  who  has 
tears  to  shed,  prepare  to  shed  them  now  ["" 

THE   DEFENCE    OF   LAWRENCE* 

All  night,  upon   the  guarded  hill, 

Until  the  stars  were  low, 
Wrapped  round  as  with  Jehovah's  will, 

We  waited  for  the  foe; 
All  night  the  silent  sentinels 

Moved  by  like  gliding   ghosts; 
All  night  the  fancied  warning  bells 

Held  all  men  to  their  posts. 

We  heard  the  sleeping  prairies  breathe, 

The  forest's  human  moans, 
The  hungry  gnashing  of  the  teeth 

Of  wolves  on  bleaching  bones; 
We  marked  the  roar  of  rushing  fires, 

The  neigh  of  frightened  steeds, 
And  voices  as  of  far-off  lyres 

Among  the  river  reeds. 

We  were  but  thirty-nine  who  lay 

Beside  our  rifles  then  ; 
We  were  but  thirty-nine,  and  they 

Were  twenty  hundred  men. 
Our  lean  limbs  shook  and  reeled  about,1 

Our  feet  were  gashed  and  bare, 
And  all  the  breezes  shredded  out 

Our  garments  in  the  air. 

Sick,  sick,  at  all  the  woes  which  spring 

Where  falls  the  Southron's  rod, 
Our  very  souls  had  learned  to  cling 

To  Freedom  as  to  God; 
And  so  we  never  thought  of  fear, 

In  all  those  stormy  hour?, 
For  every  mother's  son  stoodnear 

The  awful,  unseen  powers. 


38 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


And  twenty  hundred  men  had  met, 

And  sworn  an  oaih  of  hell 
That,  ere  the  morrow's  sun  might  set, 

Our  smoking  homes  should  tell 
A  tale  of  ruin  and  of  wrath, 

And  damning  hate  in  store, 
To  bar  the  freeman's  western  path 

Against  him  evermore. 

They  came :  the  blessed  Sabbath  day, 

That  soothed  our  swollen  veins, 
Like  God's  sweet  benediction,  lay 

On  all  the  singing  plains; 
The  valleys  shouted  to  the  sun, 

The  great  woods  clapped  their  hands, 
And  joy  and  glory  seemed  to  run 

Like  rivers  through  the  lands. 

They  came :  our  daughters  and  our  wives, 

And  men  whose  heads  were  white, 
Rose  suddenly  into  kingly  lives, 

And  walked  forth  to  the  fight ; 
And  we  drew  aim  along  our  guns, 

And  calmed  our  quickening  breath; 
Then,  as  is  meet  for  Freedom's  sons, 

Shook  loving  hands  with  Death. 

And  when  three  hundred  ot  the  foe 

Rode  up  in  scorn  and  pride, 
Whoso  had  watched  us  then  might  know 

That  God  was  on  our  side; 
For  all  at  once,  a  mighty  thrill 

Of  grandeur  through  us  swept, 
And  strong  and  swiftly  down  the  hill 

Like  Gideons  we  leapt. 

And  al).  throughout  that  Sabbath  day 

A  wall  of  fire  we  stood, 
And  held  the  baffled  foe  at  bay, 

And  streaked  the  ground  wii'i  blood; 
And  when  the  sun  was  very  low, 

They  wheeled  their  stricken  ranks, 
And  passed  on,  wearily  and  slow, 

Beyond  the  river  banks. 

Beneath  the  everlasting  stars, 

We  bended  child-like  knees, 
And  thanked  God  tor  the  shining  scars 

Of  his  large  victories; 
And  some,  who  lingered,  said  they  heard 

Such  wondrous  music  pass, 
As  though  a  seraph's  voice  had  stirred 

The  pu'ses  of  the  grass. 

CAPT.  BROWN'S  STATEMENT. 
I  have  given  the  reader  my  own  ac 
count  of  the  defence  of  Lawrence,  on  the 
14th  of  September,  1856,  and  minutely 
stated  my  means  of  inforn  ition  and  ob 
servation.  I  have  given  the  pro  slavery 
account  of  the  aftair,  as  furnished  by 
members  of  their  own  party,  and  pub- 
liahed  at  the  time  in  one  of  their  own 


papers.  I  have  copied  from  Red  path 
his  account  ot  the  invasion,  and  showed 
what  an  exciting  and  prolonged  battle 
was  fought,  in  his  frenzied  imagination, 
on  this  occasion. 

Old  John  Brown,  when  before  the  Mas 
sachusetts  Legislature,  in  February,  1857, 
five  months  only  after  the  event,  made 
mention  of  it,  which  I  copy  from  Red- 
path's  life,  page  181.  He  said: 

"I  know  well  that  on  or  about  the  14th 
of  September,  1856,  a  large  force  of  Mis- 
souriaus  and  other  ruffians,  said  by  Gov. 
Geary  to  be  twenty-seven  hundred  in 
numbers,  invaded  the  Territory,  burned 
Franklin,  and,  while  the  smoke  of  that 
place  was  going  up  behind  them,  they, 
on  the  same  day,  made  their  appearance 
in  full  view  of,  and  within  about  a  mile 
of  Lawrence;  and  I  know  ot  no  reason 
why  they  did  not  attack  that  place,  ex 
cept  that  about  one  hundred  Free  State 
men  volunteered  to  go  out,  and  did  go  out 
on  the  open  plain  before  the  town,  and 
give  them  the  offer  of  a  fight;  which, 
after  getting  scattering  shots  from  our 
men,  they  declined,  and  retreated  back 
towards  Franklin.  I  saw  that  whole 
thing." 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  be 
fore  whom  the  above  statement  was 
made,  inquired  "Who  commanded  the 
Free  State  men  at  Lawrence?''  Red  path, 
page  183,  gives  the  answer  in  these 
words : 

"His  answer  was  characteristic  of  the 
man,  whose  courage  was  only  equalled 
by  his  modesty  and  worth.  He  explained 
how  bravely  our  boys  acted — gave  every 
one  the  credit  but  himself.  When  again 
asked  who  commanded  them,  he  said — 
no  one;  that  he  was  asked  to  take  the 
command,  but  refused,  and  only  acted  as 
ther-  adviser." 

Here  we  have  the  positive,  unqualified, 
and  truthful  statement  of  old  John 
Brown,  that  he  did  not  command  on  that 
occasion.  That  he  was  requested  by 
somebody  to  do  so  is  very  probable;  but 
it  could  not  have  come  from  any  author 
ized  party  without  the  writer's  knowl 
edge,  for  he  was  in  a  position  of  all 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


39 


men,  to  know  what  was    transpiring    on 
that  day  in  Lawrence. 

On  three  separate  and  distinct 
occasions  old  John  Brown  has  been  cred 
ited  with  being  the  "Defender  of  Law 
rence."  First,  he  appears  in  the  city 
with  his  sons,  in  December,  1855,  and  is 
arrested  for  insubordination — he  wished 
"to  draw  a  little  blood."  On  the  second 
he  arrives  within  twelve  miles  of  the  city, 
reaches  Palmyra,  and  retraces  his  steps — 
do  you  say,  reader  to  Pottawotomie? 
And,  third,  he  is  a  mere  looker  on,  and 
did  no  more,  to  say  the  least,  than  any  of 
the  hundred  ladies  who  were  engaged  in 
making  cartridges,  or  the  two,  certainly, 
who  entered  the  trenches  with  tin  pails 
of  cartridges  to  aid  their  brothers  in 
firing  more  rapidly,  should  occasion  de 
mand.  And  yet  his  eulogists  tell  us  he 
was  the  "brave  defender  of  Lawrence, 
and  without  his  services  the  city  would 
have  been  destroyed  on  these  occasions." 

At  Bismark  Grove,  near  Lawrence,Kan- 
sas,  on  the  16th  of  September,  1879,  I 
heard  a  gentleman,  from  the  platform,  in 
the  hearing  of  thousands  of  interested 
listeners,  most  of  whom  were  compara 
tively  new-comers  in  that  State,  make 
the  broad  and  unqualified  assertion  that 
the  freedom  of  Kansas  was  due  to  the 
services  of  Gen.  Lane,  and  old  John 
Brown.  Shall  they  who  know  to  the  con 
trary,  remain  silent,  and  allow  such  state 
ments  to  go  down  to  another  generation, 
and  pass  into  history,  uncontradicted  ? 
The  most  humble  actual  settler  who  lo 
cated  in  Kansas  with  his  family,  who  re 
mained,  and  voted  with  the  Free  State 
party,  rendered  a  greater  service  to  free 
dom  than  did  old  John  Brown,  who  nev 
er  cast  a  vote  there,  and  whose  influence 
was  to  discourage  Northern  emigration, 
by  his  acts  of  violence.  Gen.  Lane  is  en 
titled  to  great  credit  for  his  services,  and 
when  I  write  of  him  I  shall  award  him 


that  credit  he  deserves.  I  write  lor  an 
other  generation,  with  no  expectation  of 
reward,  hence  it  is  iust  that  neither  fear 
nor  favor  shall  guide  my  pen. 

AN  INTERLUDE. 

I  have  already  stated  that  immediately 
after  the  14th  of  September  invasion,  old 
John  Brown  and  his  sons,  with  their  fam 
ilies,  started  overland,  by  way  of  Ne 
braska  and  Iowa,  for  the  Eastern  States. 
It  is  not  my  purpose  to  follow  the  Cap 
tain  on  his  long  journey;  to  detail  the  in 
cidents  by  the  way ;  his  arrival  in  Chica 
go,  in  November;  his  efforts  in  Ohio  to 
raise  a  regiment  of  men  to  march  into 
Missouri  to  make  reprisals ;  his  visiting 
Albany  in  December;  the  particulars  re 
garding  his  visit  to  his  home  and  family 
at  North  Elba,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.;  and 
thence  to  Boston,  and  visiting  the  Massa 
chusetts  Legislature  in  February,  1857. 
Neither  is  it  my  purpose  to  show  his 
earnest  efforts  to  raise  funds  to  renew  the 
strife  in  Kansas ;  his  contract  for  pikes  to 
arm  the  slaves  in  Missouri,  where  he  was 
proposing  to  strike  his  next  blow,  but 
was  finally  diverted,  by  causes  which 
shall  appear  in  the  sequel,  to  Harper's 
Ferry;  his  failures,  vexations,  disappoint 
ments,  and  denunciations  of  prominent 
Republicans,  who  stood  in  the  way  of  his 
wild  adventures,  and  who,  he  declared, 
were  foes  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  be 
cause  of  their  conservatism. 

All  the  long  period  lying  between 
September,  1856,  and  November,  1857, 
when  the  "Liberator"  again  returned  to 
Kansas,  was  a  period  of  almost  unbroken 
rest,  interrupted  only  by  deep  anxiety  for 
the  future,  and  the  earnest  discussions 
among  Free  State  men  as  to  the  line  of 
policy  to  be  pursued,  and  which  was 
crowned  by  wresting  the  Territorial  Legis 
lature  from  the  bogus  authorities,  a  ud 
sending  a  Free  State  Delegate  to  Congress. 
Save  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  which 


40 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


still  endangered  us,  the  question  was  vir 
tually  settled  between  freedom  and  slav 
ery.  A  new  era  had  dawned.  A  large 
emigration  from  the  North  began  to  flow 
in  upon  us.  The  timid,  who  had  fled 
during  the  strife,  had  returned  to  their 
homes;  the  South  were  discouraged  and 
had  mostly  fled;  cur  Free  State  newspa 
pers  were  revived ;  separated  families  were 
reunited;  and  in  November,  1857,  it 
needed  no  prophet's  ken  to  settle  the 
future  that  awaited  disenthralled  Kansas. 
With  this  period  of  repose,  I  will  in 
troduce,  with  the  consent  of  the  reader, 
by  way  of  interlude,  a  few  sketches  of 
border  life,  which  I  trust  will  not  be 
wholly  devoid  of  interest. 

A  STRANGE     COINCIDENCE 

By  the  generosity  of  those  who  were 
interested  in  the  freedom  of  Kansas,  and 
the  personal  efforts  of  Mrs.  Brown,  some 
$2,700  were  contributed  to  aid  in  the  re 
vival  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom.  Much  of 
this  amount  was  reimbursed  during  the 
ensuing  year.  Less  than  $1,000  reached 
the  writer  of  this,  owing  to  large  sums 
expended  in  defraying  expenses  of  agents, 
and  in  a  fruitless  attempt  to  obtain,  first 
from  Judge  McLean,  at  Cincinnati,  and 
afterwards  Judge  Curtis,  in  Massachu 
setts,  members  ol  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  writs  of  habeas  corpus 
for  the  relief  of  the  treason  prisoners. 

During  the  summer  of  1856,  while  still 
in  durance,  I  opened  a  correspondence 
with  the  Cincinnati  Type  Foundry,  for 
a  duplication  of  the  bills  of  the  news 
paper  department  of  the  office.  That 
Company  chanced  to  have  a  hand  press, 
type  and  fixtures  at  Mauhatten,  which 
had  been  obtained  of  them  by  fraud,  but 
possession  had  been  regained  before  the 
boxes  were  opened.  They  sent  me  an  or 
der  for  the  outfit,  to  Mr.  Pipher,  still 
living  at  Manhatten. 

Immediately  after  my  discharge  from 


arrest  I  procured  the  services  of  Augus 
tus  Wattles,  then  living  near  Blooming- 
ton,  Kan.,  who,  with  his  teams,  started  by 
the  way  of  Topeka  for  the  goods. 

Conscious  of  the  great  risk  we  were 
running,  and  the  probabilities  of  capture 
by  guerillas,  on  its  way  down  to  Law 
rence,  through  the  aid  of  a  pro-slavery 
friend,  who  was  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  violent  proceedings  of  his  party,  and 
in  whose  integrity  I  had  implicit  confi 
dence,  I  had  papers  made  out,  putting 
the  office  in  his  hauds,so  that  if  captured 
by  "Buford's  men'-  it  would  nevertheless 
reach  me  safely. 

Thus  provided,  Mr.  Wattles,  with  the 
requisite  order,  obtained  the  material 
from  Mr.  Pipher,and  set  out  on  his  return 
journey.  When  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Silver  Lake  he  was  captured  by  a  roviiig 
body  of  armed  men.  Not  recognizing 
his  captors  he  exhibited  his  pro  slavery 
papers.  The  "boys"  assured  him  that  a 
press  was  just  the  thing  they  wanted.  He 
was  escorted  to  Topeka,where  he  revealed 
the  truth,  was  recognized  by  acquaint 
ance?,  and  passed  on  to  Lawrence,  with 
out  further  incident. 

As  Mr.  Wattles  passed  up  Massachu 
setts  street,  between  Henry  and  Winthrop, 
with  his  teams,  a  body  of  mounted  horse 
men  entered  Massachusetts  street  from 
the  ford  of  the  river,  dragging  in  the  dust 
behind  them  a  red  flxg,  the  identical  one 
which  waved  over  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
office  on  the  21st  of  May  previous,  when 
it  was  destroyed  by  Border  Ruffians.  The 
new  press  and  the  captors  ol  the  flag  met 
at  the  corner  of  Winthrop  street,  where 
the  office  was  located. 

The  Free  State  boys,  I  do  not  remem 
ber  under  whose  command,  had  captured 
the  day  previous,  I  think,  near  Easton, 
a  company  of  South  Carolinians,  and  took 
their  flag  and  arms.  The  victors  pre 
sented  me  with  u,  musket,  which  they 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


41 


took  from  the  vanquished,  on  the  barrel  of 
which  was  stamped  the  State  arms,  and 
the  words  "  South  Carolina/'  showing 
that  the  last  of  the  original  states  admit 
ted  into  the  Union,  had  contributed  from 
her  State  armory  munitions  of  war  for  our 
subjugation.  I  regret  to  write  that  the 
musket  was  lost  by  some  means  in  one 
of  the  Indian  scares  in  Western  Kansas, 
«s  I  left  it  with  A.  R.  Leonard,  Esq.,  re 
siding  near  Lawrence,  to  be  forwarded  to 
nie  in  Illinois.  I  have  the  bayouet  still 

FURTHER    STRATEGY. 

Though  I  had  succeeded  in  getting 
the  necessary  printing  material  I  had  no 
paper.  Messrs.  Younglove  &  Hoyt,  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  donated  me  $200  in 
printing  paper,  soon  after  the  office  was 
destroyed.  This  was  shipped  to  Alton, 
Ill.,aud  remained  in  the  warehouse  there 
through  the  summer.  I  ordered  it  to  be 
forwarded  to  Mr.  McAllister,  Lecompton, 
Kan.,  through  a  leading  pro-slavery  com 
mission  house  in  St.  Louis,  thence  to  the 
care  of  a  violent  one  in  Leavenworth.  In 
due  time  Mr.  McAllister  was  notified  of 
its  arrival  at  Leavenworth.  He  was  Gov. 
Geary's  private  secretary.  His  given 
name  is  forgotten. 

Mr.  McAllister  procured  some  pro-slav 
ery  teamsters  at  Lecompton,  to  haul  the 
paper  from  Leavenworth,  with  instruc 
tions  to  cross  the  ferry  at  Lawrence,  on 
their  return.  The  teamsters  received  the 
p  ,per  from  the  warehouse,  and  returned 
homeward,  no  doubt  congratulating 
themselves  on  the  idea  that  they  would 
now  have  a  trusty  Democratic  paper 
again  in  operation  at  Lecompton. 

Knowing  about  the  time  they  would 
react)  the  river  a  watch  was  kept  for 
then);  On  their  arrival,  on  the  Lawrence 
side,  I  presented  them  an  order  from  Mc 
Allister  to  deliver  the  paper  to  me,  which 
they  did,  but  exhibited  much  chagrin 
and  mortification  in  doing  so 

This  is  the  manner,  the  first  time  made 


public,  the  Ruffians  were  Circumvented, 
who  had  resolved  that  no  Free  State 
newspaper  office  or  printing  material 
should  again  be  allowed  to  reach  Kansas. 
Foiled  in  this,  and  the  circulation  of  the 
Herald  of  Freedom,  reaching  8,000  during 
the  winter,  they  readily  discovered  the 
truth  of  the  adage  that  "The  blood  of 
the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church," 
and  thought  it  best  to  not  disturb  the 
papers  in  the  future. 

AN  EXCITING   INCIDENT. 

To  illustrate  the  times  and  disturbed 
state  of  Kansas,  during  this  interesting 
period  in  tioe  history  of  the  Territory,  I 
give  the  following  facts: 

After  our  release  from  imprisonment; 
the  arrival  ot  Gov.  Geary ;  the  return  of 
Gens.  Heiskell  and  Reed,  with  their  in 
vading  army  of  twenty-seven  hundred  to 
Missouri;  the  disappearance  of  old  John 
Brown,  his  sons  and  their  families 
towards  Iowa;  the  arrest  and  imprison 
ment  of  Col.  Harvey  and  his  command 
of  one  hundred,  who  had  unwisely 
responded  to  an  "order"  of  Gen.  Lane's, 
after  Gov.  Geary's  proclamation  of  peace: 
and  while  Gov.  Geary  and  his  escort 
were  making  a  tour  of  Southern  Kansas 
to  tranquilize  the  agitation  in  that  quar 
ter,  probably  sometime  during  the  last 
days  of  October,  I  was  sitting  at  my 
table,  in  the  sanctum  of  the  Herald  of 
Freedom  office  building,  preparing  copy 
for  the  paper.  A  rap  at  the  inner  door. 
I  arose,  opened  it,  and  saw  three  men 
standing  before  me,  armed  with  revolvers 
and  bowies,  and  I  think  Sharp's  rifles. 
Speaking  to  them,one  introduced  himself 
as  Captain  H.  Shaking  hands  with  him, 
he  then  introduced  the  others,  one  as 
"my  first  Lieutenant,"  giving  his  name, 
which  has  escaped  me;  the  other  as  "sec 
ond  Lieutenant,"  whose  name  is  also  for 
gotten.  I  passed  them  chairs,  and  took 
a  seat  myself  at  the  table  where  I  had 
been  writing. 


42 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  RBOWN. 


Capt.  H.  opened  the  conversation;  in 
quired  how  soon  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
would  again  appear; congratulated  me  on 
my  restoration  to  liberty,  and  then  said, 
with  a  hearty  laugh,  in  which  the  whole 
trio  joined:  "Gov.  Geary  is  tranquilizing 
the  Territory."  I  replied  that  he  seemed 
doing  much  in  that  direction,  and  from 
the  character  of  letters  to  me  irom  per 
sonal  friends  in  Pennsylvania,  who  knew 
Gov.  Geary  well,  and  from  private  inter 
course  with  him,  I  had  no  doubt  of  his 
success,  provided  the  authorities  at 
Washington  would  not  interfere  with  his 
work. 

"Ho  can  never  do  it,"  replied  Capt.  H. 
"It  is  too  late.  The  Ruffians  have  over 
run  Kansas,  have  had  their  day  until  the 
Free  State  men  are  thoroughly  organized 
for  revenge,  and  now  they  want  to  tran- 
quilize  us.  Ha,  ha,  ha,  they  can't  do  it. 
Let  me  tell  you,  Mr.  Brown,  my  Lieu 
tenants  here  and  myself  have  been  fol 
lowing  in  the  rear  of  Gov.  Geary's  pacific 
tour,  and  we  have  been  trying  to  show 
that  the  thing  won't  tranquilize."  He 
then  proceeded  to  narrate  various  crimes 
they  had  committed,  entering  into  de 
tails,  telling  of  murders,  arsons,  rapes, 
horsestealing,and  other  offenses  of  an  ag 
gravated  character. 

I  was  wholly  alone  in  the  presence  of 
three  brutal  ruffians.  What  should  I  do? 
I  said: 

"I  think  you  mistake  the  true  policy. 
Our  ambition  is  to  make  Kansas  a  Free 
State.  Our  success  is  contingent  upon 
the  number  of  actual  settlers  we  have 
from  the  free  North,  who  will  co-operate 
with  us.  To  get  these  settlers  it  is  our 
interest,  as  well  as  duty,  to  quiet  down 
the  excitement,  show  up  the  beauty  of 
the  country,  the  healthful  climate,  pro 
ductive  soil,  and  satisfy  them  that  we 
have  the  ability  to  make  it  free,  and  we 
"will  see  such  an  emigration  Kansas- 
"ward  next  spring  as  the  world  has  never 


seen  before.  You  must  remember,  Cap 
tain,  that  the  great  mass  of  us  are  here 
with  our  families,  our  property,  with  all 
we  have  in  the  world.  We  came  here  to 
build  up  homes  and  free  institutions, 
and  to  be  successful  we  must  have  peace 
and  quiet." 

"You  can't  do  it.  You  can't  do  it.  It 
is  too  late.  We  have  got  stirred  np  in 
the  matter,  and  by  G —  we  shall  keep  it 
stirred  up.  I  have  told  you  what  we 
have  done.  We  shall  continue  in  the 
rear  ot  Gov.  Geary's  movements,  and  we 
shall  continue  to  agitate,"  replied  the 
Captain,  the  Lieutenants  with  oaths  en 
dorsing  his  threats. 

"Gentlemen,  if  this  is  the  case,  I  shall 
feel  in  honor  bound  to  repeat  this  conver 
sation  to  Gov.  Geary,  and,  much  as  I  de 
spise  the  bogus  authorities,  I  shall  hope 
to  see  you  arrested  and  convicted  for 
your  crimes." 

They  all  sprung  to  their  feet,  drew 
their  revolvers,  and  threatened  me  with 
dire  vengeance.  I  arose  at  the  same  in 
stant,  shoved  a  paper  aside  on  the  table, 
exposing  an  armory,  which  experience 
had  taught  me  were  good  things  to  have 
on  such  occasions.  Without  showing 
fear  I  ordered  them  from  the  room ;  told 
them  they  would  hear  nothing  further  from 
me,  unless  I  heard  of  further  violence 
from  them.  They  retreated  down  stairs, 
and  twenty-two  years  have  passed  since 
then.  Whether  any  of  them  are  now 
living  I  don't  know,  but  the  facts  are 
in  every  essential  particular  as  I  nave 
narrated. 

To  the  old  settlers  of  Kansas  I  will 
make  an  explanation  in  this  connection, 
and  to  the  "Letter-Writers,"  an  apology. 
In  the  summer  of  1857,  the  letter-writers 
of  which  there  were  some  thirteen  or 
more,  had  headquarters  at  the  Whitney 
House,  in  Lawrence.  If  any  event  was 
about  to  transpire,  in  any  portion  of  the 
Territory,  they  would  send  one  of  their 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


43 


number  to  that  point,  who  would  gather 
up  the  facts,  return  to  the  general  rendez 
vous,  make  his  report,  when  each  one 
would  write  his  respective  paper  of  the 
event,  filling  up  with  such  incidents  as 
an  active  imagination  would  suggest,  and 
dating  their  letters  at  distant  points. 
Thus,  corroborated  by  each  other  in 
main  facts,  all  was  taken  as  true  as  holy 
writ.  Indeed  the  Eastern  press  used  the 
same  arguments  to  show  that  they  were 
truthful,  as  the  vindicators  of  the  bible 
have  done  to  show  the  correctness  of  the 
sacred  writers.  "They  were  written  at 
different  times,  by  different  persons, 
widely  separated  from  each  other,  of 
cotemporary  events,  and  all  agree  in  main 
facts, therefore  their  statements  are  strictly 
reliable." 

These  letter  writers  were  almost   inva 
riably  sensational ;  the  more  exciting  their 
narrations  the  greater    the    demand,  and 
the  more  letters  would  be  required.  They 
generally  received  $5  each   for  their  cor 
respondence.  The  more  letters  they  wrote 
the  better  it  paid.     The  Herald  of  Free 
dom  was  ever  correcting  their  statements, 
and  trying  to  convince  the  eastern  public 
that   "bloody  Kansas"   was   not  half  as 
bloody  as  the  correspondents  were  repre 
senting.      Something    was   necessary   to 
protect  the  guild.   A  friend  of  mine,  who 
had  access  to  their  rooms,  reported   that 
the  whole  list  of  Letter- Writers  had   en 
tered  into  a  solemn  agreement   to   crush 
the  Herald  of  Freedom,  by   representing 
the    editor    with  having   "sold    out    to 
the   administration,     gone    over  to    the 
enemy."       Remembering    that     Captain 
H.  was  then    an    eastern    correspondent, 
whether  of  the  guild  I  do   not    know,  I 
unwisely  stated  the  fact,  in  and  editorial, 
that  the  letter   writers   had    resolved  to 
write  down  the  Herald  of  Freedom;  that 
we  had  corrected  too  many  of  their  false 
hoods  through   our    columns    for    them 
longer  to  submit  to  it  quietly;    that  they 


were  not  the  sort  of  men  whose  truthful 
ness  could  be  always  relied  upon; 
that  one  of  their  number  was  a  profes 
sional  horse  thief,  and  he  would  be 
known  because  he  had  and  would  con 
tinue  to  write  the  most  bitter  things  de 
nunciatory  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom  and 
its  editor.  The  insane  man  running 
through  the  streets  stating  that  uHell 
was  out  for  noon,"  don't  half  express  tie 
excitement  which  that  brief  editorial 
caused  among  the  scribling  fraternity.  I 
think  a  dozen  challenges  to  fight  duels 
followed  in  rapid  succession,  and  the 
most  dignified  ot  them  insisted  on  a  cor 
rection  as  to  him.  Our  statement  was 
strictly  true,  but  no  doubt  rather  sweep 
ing  in  its  effect ;  and,  looked  upon  from 
this  distant  stand  point,  more  than  22 
years  after,  we  will  say  frankly,  if  his 
name  does  not  commence  with  H.  he  was 
not  the  letter-writer  to  whom  we  referred, 
and,  to  save  another  challenge,  we  may 
as  well  mention  that  his  name  wus  uot 
Hinton. 

THE  TERRIBLE  PATE  OF  A   TYPO. 

While  the  foregoing  incidents  illustrate 
one  phase  of  Kansas  life,  and  show  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  country,  I  will  re 
cite  still  another,  as  due  to  the  faithful 
exposition  of  the  times. 

It  was  during  this  same  autumn  of 
1856.  With  the  destruction  of  the  Her- 
aid  of  Freedom  office,  my  own  arrest  and 
imprisonment,  and  business  of  every  sort 
suspended  throughout  the  Territory,  my 
typos  were  thrown  out  of  employment, 
and  every  honest  means  of  support  was 
cut  off.  Four  months  of  the  outer  world 
shut  out,  I  lost  all  trace  of  them,  save  of 
Mr.  Whitcomb,  who  remained  faithful  to 
his  trust,  and  did  what  he  could  to  col 
lect  the  broken  and  scattered  ruins  of 
one  ot  the  best  printing  offices  ever  taken 
to  Kansas,  and  prevent  farther  spiolation. 
He  still  lives  in  Lawrence,  with  his 


44 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  RBOVVN. 


pleasant  family,  pursuing  the   delightful 
occupation  of  a  florist. 

At  the  time  of  this  incident  I  had  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  our  Free  State  citizen 
soldiery  removed  from  the  office  building, 
who  I  found  in  full  possession  of  each  of 
the  three  floors,  when  I  returned  from 
camp;  had  received  my  new  printing 
office,  in  spite  of  Border  Ruffian  vigilance, 
which  had  determined  no  new  printing 
establishment  should  reach  Free  State 
men  in  the  Territory,  and  had  it  arranged 
in  place.  My  paper,  too,  had  already 
come  to  hand,  as  before  mentioned.  In 
short,  I  was  ready  to  resume  work  on  the 
typographical  department  of  the  paper. 
Sitting  in  my  sanctum,  as  in  the  preced 
ing  incident,  preparing  matter  for  publi 
cation,  I  heard  a  loud  call  at  the  door: 

"  Brown,  O,  Brown." 

I  stepped  quickly  to  the  door,  and  saw 
a  tall,  lank,  awkward  looking  figure  of 
the  genus  homo,  sitting  astride  a  fine 
horse,  at  the  same  time  leading  sixteen 
others ,  which  were  tied  together  by  twos, 
then  a  long  rope  passing  between  them  to 
which  each  pair  of  horses  were  fastened. 
The  following  colloquy  ensued: 

"Why,  G,"  (I  shall  use  only  the  ini 
tial,  for  reasons  which  appear  in  the 
sequel,)  "is  that  you?  I  am  so  glad  to 
see  you,"  reaching  up  and  shaking  him 
by  the  hand.  "Where  have  you  been 
through  the  summer?" 

"Well,  lying  around  loose." 

"I  have  frequently  thought  of  you,  and 
wondered  why  you  did  not  put  in  an  ap 
pearance.  Everything  is  now  in  working 
order,  and  I  am  short  of  typos.  I  wish 
you  to  go  to  work  immediately." 

"I  would  like  to  3blige  you,  Mr.  Brown, 
but  I  can't  do  it.  Got  something  better." 

"How  is  that?" 

*  -'Why,  I  have  this  stock  to  dispose  of. 
Gov.  Geary  seems  hell  bent  on  tranquil- 
izing  things,  and  I  am  going  to  'git'  as 
fast  as  I  can  with  this  stock  out  of  the 


Territory,  and  let  him  tranquilize."  V. 

"Where  in  the  world  did  you  get  those 
horses?" 

"They  are  reprisals  which  1  have  made 
for  my  last  summer's  work." 

With  a  cordial  shake,  and  "  good  bye," 
I  saw  G.  for  the  last  time  riding  hurried 
ly  towards  the  ferry. 

Fourteen  years  after  I  was  at  Ful 
ton,  Illinois,  and  in  conversation 
with  the  publisher  of  the  Journal, 
learned  that  it  was  established 
by  himself  and  G.,  I  think  in  the  spring 
ot  1857.  As  he  mentioned  the  name,  it 
being  an  odd  one,  I  stated  the  above 
facts,  with  a  description  of  G.'s  person, 
and  that  he  was  a  native  Iloosier. 

"You  have  described  him  accurately. 
He  is  the  same  person.  I  well  remember 
his  frequent  mention  of  those  borcle 
troubles  in  Kansas." 

"Had  he  any  money  to  start  with?" 

"Yes,  probably  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  those  horses." 

"What  has  become  of  him?" 

"I  bought  him  out.  He  got  religion, 
joined  the  Baptist  church,  and  is  now 
preaching  over  in  Iowa." 

"The  Devil  he  is,"  is  all  I  could  re 
spond.  "And  the  proceeds  of  the  stolen 
horses  was  the  capital  he  commenced  the 
ministry  with." 

Should  this  meet  Rev.  Mr.  G.'s  eye,  he 
need  not  distress  himself,  for  I  shall  not 
give  the  residue  of  the  letters  which 
spell  his  rather  homely  name,  and  Itrust 
my  friend  Mr.  Whitcomb  will  not.  Noth 
ing  short  of  an  inquisitorial  rack,  or 
thumb  screw,  at  least,  shall  wring  them 
from  me;  and  I  know  Mr.  Booth,  late  of 
the  Fulton  Journal,  will  not  expose  him, 
because  he  is  a  member  of  the  same 
church. 

BREWERTON.  • 

Again  a  rap  at  the  door  of  the  sanctum, 
to  which  I  responded.  It  could  not  have 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


varied  many  days  either   way   from  the 
two  preceding  cases. 

In  stepped  a  rather  pleasant  looking, 
gentlemanly  appearing  person,  some 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  extended  his 
hand.  I  said: 

"You  have  the  advantage  of  me." 

"Don't  you  remember  Brewerton,  of 
theN.  Y.  Herald?" 

"Yes,  very  well,  you  d — d  scoundrel, 
and  you  get  out  of  here  this  instant." 

Standing  back,  as  if  perfectly  shocked, 
he  exclaimed : 

"What  does  this  mean." 

"It  means  sir,  that  you  are  the  d — d 
scoundrel  who  came  to  my  room,  at  the 
Harris  House,  in  Westport,  with  a  lot  of 
Southern  desperadoes,  while  I  was  a 
prisoner  in  the  hands  of  a  mob,  who  ex 
hibited  a  letter  they  represented  they  had 
taken  from  the  carpet  bag  of  some  person 
from  Lawrence,  whom  they  claimed  to 
have  captured,  revealing  a  plot  to  rescue 
me  from  them,  and  when  I  told  them  it 
was  a  forgery,  put  up  b}r  some  person  of 
evil  intent,  you,  like  the  d— d  scoundrel 
you  are,  labored  to  convince  me  and  them 
that  it  was  genuine,  when  you  knew  it 
was  only  a  pretext,  they  were  seeking, 
to  take  me  out  and  shoot  me,  as  they  had 
repeatedly  told  me  they  would  do  to  pre 
vent  a  rescue."^ 

"But,  you  know  I  was  suspected,  as 
a  Northern  man,  and  had  to  work 
my  card  very  adroitly  to  keep  on  good 
terms  with  them,  and  save  my  own  life, 
during  that  period  of  great  excitement." 

"Yes,  you  played  the  scoundrel  and 
sneak  to  divert  attention  from  yourself, 
and  I  want  you  to  leave  this  office  in 
stantly." 

"But  I  am  not  accustomed  to  being 
talked  to  in  this  manner.  I  was  formerly 
a  midshipman  in  the  United  Stages 
Navy."  ^ 

"The  greater  reason  why   you  should 


have  been  a  gentleman.     Git  /" 
And  he  got. 

Reader,  I  always  despised  profane  lan 
guage  and  made  it  an  invariable  rule  to 
discharge  from  uiy  employ  any  workman 
accustomed  to  its  use,  or  who  was  intem 
perate  in  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  but 
in  this  case  please  remember  our  "Uncle 
Toby,  in  Flanders,"  who  used  to 
swear  enormously  big  oaths  while  there, 
but  when  the  recording  angel  had  writ 
ten  down  the  words,  and  remembered  the 
great  occasion  which  called  them  forth, 
according  to  Sterne,  he  dropped  a  tear 
upon  the  record,  and  wiped  it  out  for 
ever.  I  trust  he  did  so  on  the  above  oc 
casion. 

And  then  we  have  a  somewhat  analo 
gous  case  with  Uncle  Toby's,  which,  with 
the  reader's  permission,  I  will  offer  in 
further  extenuation.  It  was  told  me 
by  a  clergyman  for  the  truth,  and  of 
course  it  is  so. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1854,  so  ran  the 
story,  an  eastern  settler,  whom  we  will 
call  Mallory,  was  engaged  with  his  oxen 
in  doing  some  labor  just  out  of  Lawrence. 
A  clergyman  riding  past  interrupted  the 
laborer  with : 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Mallory." 

"Good  morning,  Elder,  I  am  glad  to 
see  you." 

"But  I  was  not  aware  until  this  morn 
ing  that  you  were  a  profane  man." 

"I  am  not,  I  never  swear.  My  parents, 
were  pious  people,  and  they  gave  me  a 
pious  education.  I  always  despised  the 
practice  of  profane  swearing." 

"You  surprise  me,  Mr.  Mallory.  lean- 
not  understand  it.  As  I  came  up  I 
thought  I  never  heard  a  person  swear  so 
wickedly  as  you  were  doing." 

"Oh,  no,  Elder,  your  ears  have  de 
ceived  you.  I  never  swear." 

"How  could  I  be  so  deceived?" 

"Why,  what  in  the  world  could  I  have 


46 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


said  that  you  have  mistaken  it  for  pro 
fanity?" 

"You  were  directing  your  remarks  to 
the  oxen." 

"Oh,  oh,  Elder,  I  understand  you  now. 
The  truth  is,  I  bought  these  cattle  down 
in  Missouri,  and  I  was  only  addressing 
language  to  them  they  would  under 
stand."  ; 

It  is  hoped  the  people  of  Lawrence 
have  ceased  to  buy  Missouri  cattle;  and 
if  Brewerton  never  intrudes  himself  again 
on  my  premises,  I  will  try  and  never  use 
such  emphatic  terms  again. 

A  FIRST  CLASS  BORE.  > 

Bores  are  frequent  attendants  in  a 
newspaper  office.  They  thoughtlessly 
trespass  on  the  time  and  patience  of  the 
editor,  when  he  is  preparing  important 
matter  for  the  press,  delay  the  printers, 
by  forcing  them  to  wait  for  copy,  and 
annoy  him  in  allsoits  of  ways.  I  have 
a  case  of  this  character,  which  the  reader 
will  allow  me  to  narrate,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  press,  which,  certainly  is  applic 
able  to  our  title  of  a  "Thrilling  Incident 
of  Border  Life." 

It  was  December,  6th  1856.  Theday 
was  rather  cheerless.  Moist  snow  was 
falling  in  large  flakes,  melting  nearly  as 
S'joii  as  it  reached  the  ground. 

I  was  seated  in  my  sanctum,  as  usual, 
hard  at  work,  writing  editorials  for  my 
paper,  which  then  had  a  circulation  bor 
dering  closely  on  8,010.  I  had  no  assist 
ant,  and  often  wrote  from  ten  to  sixteen 
columns  of  matter  each  week,  besides 
conducting  a  heavy  business  correspond 
ence.  To  do  this  vast  amount  of  labor  I 
was  compelled  to  be  wholly  alone.  My 
clerks  were  instructed  to  allow  no  person 
to  pass  through  their  room  into  mine,  un 
less  it  was  a  case  of  the  greatest  import 
ance. 

The  sanctum  was  a  beautiful  room,  in 
the  middle  of  the  building,  on  the  sec 
ond  floor,  dxteeii  foot  square,  high 


<H1  ing,  well  lighted,  the  floor  carpeted, 
two  fine  book  cases  well  filled,  pictures 
on  the  wall,  a  large  round  table  in  the 
center  of  the  room,  and  a  beautifully  or 
namented  stove,  which  I  took  great  pride 
in  keeping  nicely  polished.  In  one  c<  r- 
ner  of  the  room  was  a  little  trap  door, 
probably  12  by  20  inches,  a  series  of 
them  extending  through  the  building  to 
the  roof,  to  be  used  in  cases  of  emergency. 
These  traps  gave  direct  access  to  the 
workmen,  either  on  the  first  01  'third 
floor.  The  typos  were  above,  and  through 
the  trap  the  foreman  received  his  copy. 

I  was  seated  at  my  table,  in  the  midst 
of  a  heavy  article,  laboring  to  show  that 
tranquility  was  fully  restored  to  Kansas; 
that  the  golden  age  had  really  dawned; 
that  the  lost  Eden  was  found ;  our  gorg 
eous  prairies  were  teeming  with  houey 
and  wine;  and  was  telling  everybody  and 
his  wife  to  come  right  there,  by  first 
steamer  up  the  Missouri,  and  enjoy  thia 
newly-discovered  Paradise,  wher  I  was 
interrupted  by  an  attempt  to  enter  at  the 
door,  which  was  fastened.  I  was  in  an 
unusual  hurry,  behind  with  copy,  and  a 
long  train  of  thought,  which  I  wished  to 
get  on  paper,  before  it  should  take  wings 
and  fly  away,  as  my  best  always  does. 

Two  or  three  clerks,  among  whom,  by 
the  way,  was  John  E.  Cook,  an  accom 
plished  penman,  who  was  hung  with  old 
John  Brown,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  were 
hard  at  work  arranging  subscription 
books  in  the  business  office,  so  I  resolved 
I  would  not  be  interrupted. 

But  the  door  was  shook  again,  followed 
by  three  raps,  the  sesame  which  had  been 
agreed  upon  with  the  clerks  to  ope"  tho 
door. 

Impatient  with  the  annoyance,  I  pTisscd 
to  the  door  and  opened  it,  when  in 
stepped  a  gentleman  of  probably  35  years 
of  age,  heavy  set,  wearing  a  slouch  hat, 
face  unshaven  for  a  week,  with  the  gen 
eral  air  of  a  man  that  had  his  own  notion 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


47 


of  things,  ami  cared  but  little  what  oth 
ers  thought  about  it. 

I  passed  him  a  chair,  in  front  of  the 
warm  stove,  made  some  remarks  about 
the  weather,  when  the  following  colloquy 
ensued : 

"  Rather  an  unpleasant  day  to  travel." 

"  Quite." 

"  You  have  just  arrived  in  the  Terri 
tory?" 

"  Yes." 

"Do  you  come  to  locate  with  us?" 

"  Yes." 

"  What  State  are  you  from?" 

"  Indiana." 

"How  are  you  pleased  with  Kansas?" 

"  Well." 

Here  the  trap  was  raised,  and  the  fore 
man  called,  ''Copy." 

"  Excuse  me  a  few  minutes,  I  have  an 
article  well  under  way,  which  I  will  soon 
finish.'1 

The  trap  was  let  down,  when  I  dipped 
my  pen,  already  between  my  fingers,  in 
the  ink,  and  remarked: 

"  I  am  yery  much  pressed  to  supply 
copy  as  fast  as  needed,  as  my  pap?r  is 
almost  wholly  original." 

Again  I  dipped  my  pen  in  the  ink,  as 
if  to  write,  but  my  thoughts  were  gone. 
To  add  to  my  grief,  my  visitor  took  from 
his  pocket  a  case  of  tobacco,  extracted  a 
quid,  and  commenced  chewing,  and  soon 
after  made  a  target  of  my  beautiful  stove. 
The  door  was  open  in  front,  exposing  a 
glowing  fire.  ^  He  evidently  aimed  to  hit 
the  opening;  but  in  spite  of  his  skill  in 
that  direction  he  would  frequently  miss, 
then  a  hiss,  accompanied  by  a  foul  odor, 
and  a  soiled  place  was  exposed. 

I  tried  to  draw  my  visitor  out,  and 
learn  the  object  of  his  call,  but  could 
not.  Everything  I  said,  or  inquiry  made, 
was  answered  with  a  monosyllable. 

Up  again,  every  few  minutes,  would  fly 
the  trap,  and  down  would  come  the  cry 
of  "Copy  1  We  are  all  out  of  copy." 


The  pen  would  be  again  loaded,  but 
the  thoughts  were  on  the  bore,  and  I 
could  not  write.  To  demand  his  busi 
ness  seemed  impolite,  and  what  to  do 
was  the  conundrum  I  did  not  know 
how  to  solve.  Dear  reader,  were  you  ever 
similarly  afflicted? 

Then  it  seemed  an  age.  Looking  back 
upon  the  events,  and  recalling  the  vexa 
tion  I  experienced  at  the  abuse  my  stove 
was  receiving,  when  I  had  long  ago 
pushed  a  spittoon  to  my  visitor's  feet,  to 
which  he  paid  no  attention,  it  is  a  wonder 
that  I  did  not  make  a  slight  draft  on 
Mallory's  language  to  the  oxen  to  help 
me  out. 

When  my  patience  was  nearly  exhaust 
ed,  and  I  was  studying  what  to  say  to 
get  rid  ot  the  intruder,  to  relieve  the 
monotony,  he  arose,  looked  at  the 
pictures  on  the  wall,  read  my  cer 
tificate  of  membership  in  the  Grand 
Division  Sons  of  Temperance,  as  also 
of  the  Grand  Temple  of  Honor  of  Penn 
sylvania.  Then  coming  to  the  table, 
with  both  hands  on  it,  leaning  over 
towards  me,  he  inquired : 

"Have  yua  any  subscribers  at  Centre- 
ville,  Indiana?" 

"I  think  so." 

"Who  arc  they?" 

I  stepped  to  the  business  room,  called 
for  my  Indiana  subscription  book,  opened 
to  Centreville,  and  read  a  handsome  list 
of  names . 

"Put  down  — " 

I  did  so. 

"Put  down  — " 

"Put  down  — " 

And  so  he  continued,  I  following  di 
rections  until  I  had  added  some  eighteen 
names. 

"Put  down  the  number  on  a  slip  of 
paper.  Have  you  any  subscribers  at  Ce- 
darville?" 

"Yes." 

"Who  are  they?" 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN   BROWN. 


And  thus  on  from  one  place  to  another, 
each  with  a  long  list,  until  I  had  entered 
an  even  ninety  names. 

"How  much  do  you  want  for  them?1' 

"One  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars 
I  furnish  them  all  to  you  at  my  lowest 
club  rates." 

He  drew  from  his  pocket  a  bag  of  coin, 
and  counted  out  $135  in  gold,  which  I 
trarsf erred  to  my  safe,  thinking  to  myself 
as  I  did  so : 

"You  may  spit  on  my  stove  just  as 
m  ich  as  you  dum  please." 

)  I  then  inquired  his  name.  He  gave  it 
as  DrJas.G.Blunt.  He  was  afterward  Maj. 
General,  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  telling  Col.Thomas 
Moonlight,  now  of  Leavenworth,  the 
above  facts,in  the  presence  of  Gen.  Blunt 
and  seveial  members  of  his  staff. 

I  suppose  my  journalistic  friends  will 
call  the  General  a  "First  Class  Bore." 
I  While  recently  in  Kansas,  I  learned 
with  much  sadness,  that  Gen.  Blunt  is  at 
this  time  an  inmate  of  an  insane  asylum, 
I  think  at  Washington. 

THE  LETTER   WRITERS. 

Having  had  frequent  occasion  to  refer 
to,  or  quote  from  the  professional  letter 
writers  of  Kansas,  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  give  a  few  passing  lines  to  them,  be 
fore  we  return  to  the  "Liberator.*'  Many 
of  the  names  of  these  gentlemen  have 
escaped  me.  The  most  prominent  were 
Jas.  Redpath,  Wm.  Phillips,  Richard 
Raelf,  Richard  J.  Hinton,  J.  H  Kagi  and 
John  E.  Cook.  There  were  others,  as  A. 
D.  Richardson,  Capt.  H.,  previously  men 
tioned,  S.  F.  Tappan,  Mr.  Russel,  etc. 
The  first  four  names  were  foreigners,  and 
nearly  all  were  in  sympathy  with  old 
John  Brown,  and  acted  as  apologists,  and 
vindicators  of  him. 

Redpath  made  his  rrrst  appearance  in 
Kansas,  in  June,  1855.  For  a  time  he 
made  his  headquarters  at  the  Herald  of 
Freedom  oftice,  and  I  saw  and  knew  much 


of  him.  He  was  ambitious  to  secure  a 
position  as  reporter  of  the  Bogus  Legis 
lature,  which  assembled  at  Pawnee  on 
the  2nd  of  July,  1855,  'and  was  suc 
cessful.  He  failed,  for  some  reason,  to 
give  satisfaction,  and  was  discharged,  af 
ter  the  removal  of  that  body  to  the 
Shawnee  Mission.  He  claimed  to  have 
traveled  all  over  the  South,  mostly  on  foot, 
spending  much  of  his  time  among  the 
slaves.  As  a  correspondent  he  was  wholly 
unreliable,  drawing  so  largely  on ^  his 
imagination  that  it  was  difficult  to  dis 
tinguish  the  truth  from  falsehood.  He 
was  a  violent  Northern  secessionist  in 
feeling,  and  all  his  energies  seemed  di 
rected  to  involve  the  extremes  of  the  Re 
public  in  a  bloody  collision.  He  es 
tablished  a  paper  at  Doniphan,  under  the 
auspices  of  Gen.  Lane,  but  they  soon  fell 
out,  and  he  left  the  Territory  in  disgust, 
and  engaged  in  the  Haytian  emigration 
business.  To  aid  the  enterprise  he  pub 
lished  a  paper  at  Boston,  entitled  the 
Palm  and  Pine,  from  which  I  have 
already  copied.  He  is  now  the  recog 
nized  head  of  the  Boston  Literary  Bureau. 
He  recently  disappeared  mysteriously 
from  New  York,  but  in  due  time  turned 
up  in  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  sent  to  Kansas  as  the 
special  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
Tribune,  in  the  summer  or  autumn  of 
1855.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  ability,  de 
signed  to  write  nothing  but  the  truth, and 
had  many  excellent  qualifications  of  head 
and  heart.  He  placed  too  much  confidence 
in  the  reports  of  his  associates;  frequently 
magnified  molehills  into  mountains;  and 
was  an  extreme  partizan  with  a  tendency 
toward  the  John  Brown  school.  Instead 
of  encouraging  Northern  emigration,  his 
published  articles  were  always  lugubrious 
and  lacking  in  hope  and  confidence  in 
the  final  result. 

Richard  Raelf  came  to  Kansas,  over 
land,  through  Iowa,  in  the  fall  of  1856, 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


reaching  Lawrence  with  the  Eldridgc 
party,  some  time  about  the  middle  of 
October.  Raelf  represented  himself  as 
an  adopted  son  of  Lady  Byron ;  claimed 
to  have  had  some  trouble  with  her;  came 
to  New  York,  and  engaged  as  an  assistant 
to  Mr  Pease,  in  the  House  of  Industry, 
belonging  to  the  Five  Point's  Mission. 
Thence  he  drifted  to  Kansas.  He  was 
"something  of  a  poet,"  an  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  old  John  Brown,  an  advocate 
of  the  fighting  policy,  but  was  not  a  suc 
cess  as  a  correspondent.  He  suicided  last 
year  in  San  Francisco. 

Hm  ton,  like  Red  path,  Philips  and 
Raelf,  was  an  Englishman.  He  came  to 
Kansas  with  the  same  party  with  Raelf, 
in  October,  1856.  He  obtained  a  situa 
tion  as  typo,  in  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
office,  but  was  wholly  incompetent  as  a 
compositor,  being  paid  by  the  thousand, 
his  wages  rarely  or  never  exceeded  $3  50 
a  week,  when  good  workmen  made  $12  to 
$15  a  week.  He  was  transferred  to 
the  position  of  assistant  clerk,  and 
thence  joined  the  letter-writing  fraternity. 

Cook,  too,  was  an  employe  for  some 
three  months  in  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
office;  was  engaged  principally  in  copy 
ing  subscription  books;  making  indexes; 
and  entering  lists  of  new  subscribers. 
He  came  to  Kansas  in  the  spring  of  1856, 
from  Indiana,  and  joined  Lenhart  and 
others  in  a  sort  ot  guerilla  warfare 
through  that  summer.  He  fell  into  the 
embraces  of  old  John  Brown,-  and  died 
on  the  gallows  a  few  days  after  the  "Lib 
erator."  He  was  a  man  of  generous  im 
pulses,  and,  in  peaceful  times,  and  oth 
er  surroundings  would  have  made  a 
worthy  citizen.  An  anonymous  writer, 
since  these  articles  were  in  course  of  pub 
lication,  wrote  me  that  he  lacked  bravery. 

Kagi  I  never  saw  but  once,  and  then 
was  favorably  impressed  with  his  appear 
ance.  He  was  correspondent  for  the 
National  Era,  at  Washington,  a  very 


worthy,  high-toned.  Free  Soil  paper.  He 
was  Captain  Brown's  Secretary  of  War, 
and  was  killed  at  Harper's  Ferry.  He 
became  known  in  Kansas  principally  by 
a  personal  encounter  with  Judge  Elmore, 
at  Tecumseh. 

These  young  men,  inexperienced  in 
practical  lite,  imbued  with  the  wildest 
romance,  and  seeking  to  involve  the 
Government  in  revolution,  writing  under 
nom  de  plumes,  and  flooding  the  country 
with  sensational  letters,  in  too  many  in 
stances  wholly  devoid  of  truth,  gave  a 
false  coloring  to  history,  which  will 
probably  impress  it  for  years,  if  not  for 
all  time.  Take  the  "Life  of  John  Brown," 
written  by  one  of  them,  for  illustration : 
I  have  shown  conclusively  that  the  pro 
duction  is  in  no  way  reliable;  that  the 
entire  work  was  a  eulogy  published  in  the 
interest  ol  John  Brown's  family,  with 
everything  objectionable  in  his  character 
carefully  omitted,  or  heavily  gilded;  and 
yet  so  worthy  and  enduring  a  work  as 
"The  American  Cyclopedia,"  in  its  arti 
cle  on  Old  John  Brown,  has  only  greatly 
abridged  Redpath's  book,  without  adding 
a  single  additional  statement.  Probably 
the  Encyclopedia  Britanica  borrows  its 
article,  in  substance,  from  the  American. 
French  and  German  publications  will  fol 
low,  while  other  nations  will  copy,  and 
thus  is  realized  the  truth  of  that  maxim : 
"Falsehood  will  travel  a  league  while 
Truth  is  putting  on  his  boots  to  join  in 
pursuit." 

Sensational  writers,  endorsing  each 
other,  gave  coloring  to  everything  they 
attempted.  Genuine  merit  was  ob 
scured  and  real  worth  was  passed  with- 
out  mention;  tinsel  was  thrown  over 
their  heroes,  whilst  their  meritorious 
works  were  magnified  many  times,  and 
their  vices  and  crimes  concealed.  Thus 
left,  the  future  historian  has  a  herculean 
task  before  him,  else  an  admiring  gener 
ation  will  convert  these  heroes  of  an  idle 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


braiu  into  gods  for  narrow  minds  to  wor 
ship. 

Exeunt,  the  letter  writers. 

JOHN  BROWN'S  CABIN — A  FRAUD. 

Hon.  James  Hanway,  of  Lane,  Frank 
lin  Co.,  Kansas,  at  the  Old  Settlers'  Con 
vention,  at  Bismark  Grove,near  Lawrence, 
on  the  15th  and  16th  of  September,  1879, 
said,  from  the  public  stand,  that  he 
wished  to  make  a  correction  in  regard  to 
old  John  Brown,  because  it  was  due  to 
history.  He  then  said  a  photographer 
had  taken  a  picture  of  an  old  log  cabin, 
i*-hich  he  had  erected  on  his  place  at  an 
early  day,  for  preemption  purposes,  but 
bad  long  been  unoccupied.  After  the 
picture  was  complete  the  artist  inquired 
what  he  should  call  it. 

"  Well,  old  John  Brown  used  to  visit 
me  quite  frequently,  while  we  lived  in 
the  cabin,  suppose  we  call  it  the  'John 
Brown  Cabin.1  " 

Agreeably  to  the  suggestion,  Judge 
Hanway  said,  the  picture  was  so  named, 
and  the  artist  went  away  with  it.  A  lit 
tle  time  alter  he  saw  an  engraved  illus 
tration  of  the  cabin,  in  a  Kansas  City 
paper,and  published  as  the  veritable  John 
Brown's  Cabin.  At  the  Philadelphia 
'Centennial,  the  old  gentleman  added, 
there  were  thousands  of  this  fraud  dis 
posed  of  to  the  credulous,  at  high  figures, 
who  wanted  some  relic  of  their  hero. 
•"  But  John  Brown,"  he  continued,  "never 
owned  a  cabin  nor  any  land  in  Kansas." 

In  the  first  biennial  report  of  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture  of  Kansas,  a  beau 
tifully  executed  volume  of  632  pages 
printed  on  heavy  paper,  and  finely  illus 
trated,  we  find  a  wood  cut  of  this  cabin 
fraud,  so  characteristic  of  many  other 
•events  Brown's  eulogists  have  falsely 
heaped  upon  him,  for  the  historian  to 
correct,  underneath  which  is  printed 
44  John  Brown's  Cabin,  in  southwestern 
part  of  Franklin  county,  near  Osawot- 


omie,  Miami  Co.,  (from  a  photograph  by 
A.  W.  Barker.)" 

Gov.  Anthony  aided  and  abetted  in  ex 
tending  and  perpetuating  this  fraud,  by 
sending  a  copy  of  the  engraving  to  a 
Subscription  Club  in  Paris,  France.  He 
says:  "With  this  I  hand  you  an  engrav 
ing  of  '  John  Brown's  Cabin,'  still  stand 
ing,  as  it  did  when  it  domiciled  the  old 
hero  during  his  residence  in  Kansas." 

This  fact  shows  how  myths  are  made. 
That  cabin  will  be  as  immortal  as  the 
apple  in  the  mythical  story  of  Wm.  Tell. 
Are  all  our  histories  of  prominent  per 
sonages  as  devoid  of  truth  as  are  those  of 
old  John  Brown? 

THE      HOME     OF   JOHN    BROWN. 

From  the  same  piece  with  the  "Cabin 
Fraud"  comes  a  statement  as  late  as 
November  12,  1879,  from  the  present 
Governor  of  Kansas,  John  P.  St  John,  a 
very  excellent  gentleman,  by  the  way, 
who  telegraphed  the  Chicago  Daily  News, 
as  the  Governor  said,  from  "The  home  of 
Old  John  Brown." 

Seven  cities  claimed  to  be  the  birth 
place  of  Homer;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  it  is  possible  for  any 
person,  while  living,  to  have  two  "homes" 
at  the  same  time.  "Home,"  in  law  and 
fact,  is  the  place  where  a  person  is  dom 
iciled.  Domicile  is  a  place  of  permanent 
residence.  That  place  is  where  the  lam 
ily  resides.  From  John  Brown's  first  en 
trance  into  Kansas,  in  the  fall  of  1855,  to 
the  time  of  his  execution,  December  2d, 
1859,  his  family  was  on  his  faim  at 
North  Elba,  New  York,  and  th-  re, 
in  the  writer's  natal  county  of  Essex, 
among  the  Adirondac  mountains,  where 
he  was  born,  rests  in  tranquility  the 
bones  of  the  "Liberator."  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  disturb  his  repose,  or  wrest  from 
his  fame  a  single  well-earned  laurel;  but 
I  am  laboring  to  brush  away  the  false  in 
history,  which  his  eulogists  have  thrown 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BKOVVN. 


around  him,  in  many  instances  robbed 
from  those  better  entitled  to  wear  the 
garland  than  he. 

A  GLANCE  IN  PASSING. 

Many  of  the  most  interesting  pages  in 
Kansas  history,  when  correctly  and  fully 
written,  will  be  those  describing  the  in 
tervening  events  between  the  autumn  of 
1856,  and  November,  1857.  The  period 
embraces  the  whole  of  Gov.  Geary's  ad 
ministration,  extending  through  six 
months;  of  Secretary  Stanton's  term,  as 
Acting  Governor,  for  one  month ;  and 
about  six  months  of  Gov.  Walker's  ad 
ministration. 

,The  correspondents  and  "fighting  men," 
made  a  continual  warfare  on  these  gen 
tlemen;  but  they  were,  nevertheless,  very 
worthy  persons,  and  came  to  Kansas  with 
a  sincere  desire  to  do  justly  by  all 
parties.  They  were  hampered  by  instruc 
tions  issued  by  the  State  Department  at 
Washington,  and  were  frequently  embar- 
assed  with  interferences  by  co-ordinate  de 
partments  ot  government.  Each  employed 
all  his  power  to  correct  abuses,  and  con 
tinually  labored  with  the  President  in 
that  direction,  but  was  unsuccessful. 

The  President  was  under  the  influence 
of  Jefferson  Davis,  the  man  of  "evil 
destiny,"  who  seemed  to  have  Kansas 
affairs  in  his  keeping,  and  whose  great 
ambition  was  to  make  it  a  slave  State. 

When  Gov.  Geary  saw  he  could  not  be 
permitted  to  right  our  wrongs,  he  re 
signed,  and  left  the  Territory ;  but  his  in 
fluence  for  free  Kansas  did  not  end  here. 
After  Gov.  Walker's  appointment  he  paid 
that  functionary  a  visit,  and  made  known 
to  him  the  outrages  which  had  been  per 
petrated  on  the  Free  State  settlers,  by 
Missouri  and  the  South,  and  placed  him 
in  rapport  with  influential  Free  State 
men  in  Kansas,  who  wielded  valuable  in 
fluence  over  him  during  his  whole  term 
of  office. 

When    Gov.    Walker    found    that  his 


instructions  would  not  permit  a  faithful 
discharge  of  his  duties  to  the  citizens, 
he  visited  Washington  in  person,  and 
labored  with  the  President  to  get  his  in 
structions  changed;  failing,  he,  too,  re 
signed. 

Secretary  Stanton,  who  again  became 
Acting  Governor,  also  attempted  to  assist 
the  real  settlers,  but  was  immediately 
sacrificed  to  placate  the  South,  and  was. 
removed  by  the  President. 

Each  of  the  Governors  were  violently 
denounced  by  the  Bohemians  of  the 
press,  and  with  Gov.  Walker,  it  required 
great  effort  to  prevent  his  being  driven 
into  extreme  measures,  by  their  false, 
abusive  and  violent  denunciations  of 
him. 

Each  of  these  Governors,  on  leaving  the 
Territory,  became  indentified  with  the 
friends  of  free  Kansas.  Gov.  Geary 
served  his  country  with  gallantry  in  the 
war  of  the  rebellion,  and  was  made  Gov 
ernor  of  Pennsylvania,by  the  Republican 
party,  discharging  his  duties  faithfully 
and  satisfactorily  to  all.  Gov.  Walker 
was  sent  by  President  Lincoln,  on  a  se 
cret  and  very  important  mission  to  Eng 
land,  during  the  rebellion,  and  received 
therefor  the  highest  commendation  of  the 
Martyr  President.  These  facts  show  that 
however  greatly  they  were  misunderstood 
the  time,  in  Kansas,  their  impulses  were 
leading  them  in  a  proper  direction.  ' 

The  writer  had  special  opportunities  of 
information  in  regard  to  the  official  con 
duct  of  each  of  these  gentlemen ;  and  he 
believes  it  a  duty  he  owes  to  impartial 
history,  some  day,  to  give  that  knowl 
edge  to  the  public. 

In  my  next  I  shall  resume  John 
Brown's  connection  with  Kansas  affairs, 
and  hurry  these  Reminiscences  to  a  close, 
stopping  by  the  way,  to  correct  any  er- 
ros,  pointed  out  by  critics,  which,  lapse 
of  years,  or  defective  information  has  !ed 
me  into.  Each  person  who  has  or  may 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


point  out  any  discrepancy  between  my 
statements  and  facts  will  please  accept 
my  cordial  thanks. 

RETURN  TO  KANSAS. 

During  this  long  period,  from  about 
the  middle  of  September,  1856,  to  No 
vember,  1857,  old  John  Brown  has  been 
laboring  in  the  Eastern  States,  soliciting 
funds  to  arm  a  body  ot  men  to  return  to 
Kansas,  and  make  reprisals  in  Missouri. 
As  before  stated,  he  contracted  in  Col- 
linsville,  Conn.,  for  one  thousand  pikes, 
to  be  "fixed  to  the  end  of  a  pole,  about 
six  feet  long,"  which  he  told  the  manu 
facturer  he  proposed  "to  place  in  the 
hands  of  the  settlers  in  Kansas,  to  keep 
in  their  cabins,  to  defend  themselves 
against  'border  ruffians  and  wild  beasts.'  " 
This  was  his  ostensible  object.  His  REAL 
object  was  to  place  these  rude  instru 
ments,  which  only  required  physical 
force  to  wield  them,  in  the  hands  of  slaves 
in  Missouri. 

In  August,  1857,  Capt  Brown,  with  a 
small  party,  reached  Tabor,  near  the 
south-western  corner  of  Iowa,  where  he 
remained  inactive  until  the  2d  of  Novem 
ber,  when,  with  one  of  his  sons,  he  set 
out  with  his  own  conveyance  for  Kansas. 

We  find  him  a  few  days  after  in  coun 
cil  with  various  parties  in  the  vicinity  of 
Lawrence.  His  stay  in  that  vicinity 
was  quite  brief,  limited  to  about  three 
days.  He  seems  to  have  enlisted  John 
E.  Cook,  Richard  Raelf  and  L.  F.  Par 
sons  in  his  enterprise  on  this  trip.  Red- 
path  was  already  co-operating,  and  Hin- 
ton,  according  to  Cook,  was  to  have 
joined  the  adventure.  The  Captain  re 
turned  by  way  of  Topeka,  to  Nebraska, 
thence  to  his  place  of  general  rendezvous, 
at  Tabor. 

Why  the  Captain  made  so  brief  a  stay 
in  Kansas  is  not  apparent.  Probably  he 
was  disappointed  in  finding  that  the 
"Voting  Policy,"  as  distinguished  from 
the  "Fighting  Policy,"  had  prevailed. 


Certain  it  is,  the  Free  State  party, 
through  the  faithfulness  of  Gov.  Walker 
to  public  and  private  pledges,  had  con 
trol  of  both  houses  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly  of  the  Territory,  and  had  se 
cured  the  certificate  of  election  for  their 
Delegate  in  Congress.  This  matter  hung 
in  doubt  for  a  time,  and  the  Bohemians 
of  the  press  were  almost  positive  in  their 
statements  that  Gov.  Walker  and  Secre 
tary  Stanton  would  play  false  to  Mieir 
pledges. 

It  is  possible  the  Captain's  movement 
was  inspired  Kansasward  at  that  time, 
with  a  bloody  project  in  view.  It  was 
certainly  fortunate  for  the  tranquility  of 
the  Territory  that  he  was  detained  in 
Iowa,  from  the  7th  of  August  to  the  3d 
of  November  "for  the  want  of  funds,"  as 
his  biographer  states,  for  it  is  very  prob 
able  a  renewal  of  strife  was  saved  by  the 
event. 

I  have  one  of  the  most  exciting  chap 
ters  in  Kansas  history,  to  detail,  sometime, 
which  occurred  during  this  interesting 
period,  and  which  may  partially  explain 
John  Brown's  reasons  for  hovering  on 
the  borders  of  Kansas  during  this  inter 
val.  To  introduce  it  in  these  pages 
would  require  the  introduction  of  other 
characters,  which  are  not  at  present  the 
subjects  of  inquiry,  hence  an  account  of 
it  is  reserved  for  another  occasion. 

Each  movement  of  the  Captain,  until 
his  visit  in  November  to  Lawrence, 
looked  towards  a  renewal  of  the  strife  by 
him  on  the  Kansas  border.  He  had  bid 
"farewell"  to  New  England  in  April, 
1857;  had  an  engagement  with  Col. 
Hugh  Forbes  to  meet  him  at  Tabor  in 
June  to  instruct  a  number  of  young 
Kansas  men  in  military  tactics;  in  May 
he  was  journeying  in  that  direction.  On 
July  4th  he  left  Cleveland,  O.,  for  Iowa 
City.  Reached  Tabor  on  the  7th  of 
August.  Was  joined  by  his  "drill 
master"  on  the  9th.  He  had  quite  a  little 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


party  with  him  at  this  time.  He  visited 
Lawrence  in  November,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  taking  one  son  with  him,  and  k-av- 
ing  two  others  at  Tabor.  He  called  on 
E.  B.  Whitman,  living  a  few  miles  west 
of  Lawrence.  On  reaching  Topeka,  en 
route  back  to  Tabor,  he  told  Cook  that 
the  party  "were  to  leave  Kansas  to  attend 
a  military  school  during  the  winter;  and 
that  it  was  the  intention  to  go  to  Ashta- 
bula  County,  Ohio." 

^ow  it  seems  there  was  a  sudden 
^nange  in  the  "Liberator's"  mind.  Here  is 
a  back  step,  and  an  explanation  as  to  the 
cause  is  required.  On  his  return  to  Tabor 
he  communicated  to  his  followers  that 
Harper's  Ferry  would  be  the  point  of  at 
tack. 

Did  the  Captain  call  on  Gov.  Robinson 
while  in  Lawrence?  What  was  the 
character  of  their  interview?  Did  that 
interview  have  anything  to  do  with  hip 
change  of  base,  and  Ids  precipitate  re 
treat?  I  have  written  the  Goyernor  for 
information  in  this  direction,  and  hope  to 
receive  his  answer  in  time  for  the  next 
number  of  the  series. 

AN     IMPORTANT     LETTER. 

I  wrote  Gov.  Robinson  recently,  as 
stated  in  the  previous  article,  recalling  a 
conversation  between  us  twenty  years 
ago,  in  regard  to  an  interview  between 
him  and  Old  John  Brown,  and  wished  the 
facts  for  publication.  He  hesitated  to 
furnish  a  statement,  but  with  the  assur 
ance  that  I  should  repeat  it  according  to 
my  recollections,  which  would  possibly 
b/ing  him  before  the  public  in  reply,  he 
sent  me  the  following,  which  has  just 
reached  me  in  time  for  this  place. 
Whether  that  interview  was  had  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Captain's  visit  to  Law 
rence,  in  November,  1857,  when  his 
whole  plan  of  operations  seemed  so  sud 
denly  changed,  or  a  year  later,  at  the 
close  of  the  troubles  in  Linn  and  Bour 
bon  Counties,  is  not  apparent.  From 


some  facts  in  my  possession  I  am  led  to 
think  it  occurred  on  the  occasion  of  this 
visit,  for  the  Governor  saw  clearly  the 
end  of  civil  strife  at  that  time,  and,  like 
other  permanent  settlers  who  desired  to 
see  order  substituted  for  anarchy,  was 
laboring  to  bring  about  an  era  of  peace. 
It  is  possible  the  Captain's  mission  was 
in  pursuit  of  money  with  which  to  pro 
long  the  agitation,  and  which  the  Gov 
ernor  thought  best  to  withhold  from  him, 
at  the  same  time  suggesting  very  good 
reasons  for  so  doing.  But  these,  the 
reader  will  understand,  are  my  own  de 
ductions.  The  letter  is  as  follows:  ^ 

LAWRENCE,  Kan.,  Nov.  24,  1879. 

GEO.  W.  BROWN,  M.  D.— DEAR  SIR:  — 
Your  favor  asking  for  an  account  of  my 
interview  with  John  Brown,  as  he  left 
the  Territory  of  Kansas,  is  received.  The 
particulars  of  the  conversation  I  cannot 
give,  as  I  made  no  memoranda  at  the 
time.  The  interview  was  very  friendly, 
and  a  frank  review  was  had  of  the  two 
lines  of  policy  pursued  in  Kansas,  name 
ly,  his  policy  of  involving  the  North  and 
South  in  a  war;  and  our  Free  State  pol 
icy  of  surrounding  the  slave  States  with 
free,  and  securing  the  Federal  as  well  as 
State  governments  on  the  side  of  free 
dom. 

He  frankly  admitted  that  from  my 
standpoint  we  had  acted  wisely,  and  had 
succeeded;  but  from  his  standpoint,  so 
far  as  aiding  the  cause  of  emancipation 
it  was  a  failure.  But  as  his  presence  here 
would  be  a  source  of  annoyance,  and  do 
no  good,  he  would  seek  another  field  of 
operations,  but  did  not  say  where. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that_  I 
was  authorized  to  draw  on  a  person  in 
Boston,  for  money  to  support  John  Brown 
in  Kansas,  if  I  thought  his  presence 
beneficial  to  the  Free  State  cause.  I  had 
written  this  person  that  I  thought  his 
presence  a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help 
at  that  time.  Probably  Mr.  Brown  had 
been  so  informed.  It  is  possible  that 
Amos  A.  Lawrence  can  tell  where  the 
letter  can  be  found. 

I  notice  in  Redpath's  book,  he  repre 
sents  Mr.  Brown  as  speaking  very  con 
temptuously  of  the  Free  State  men  in 
general,  and  of  myself  in  particular.  If 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


lohe  was  very  hypocritical, as  iu  my  pros 
ence  he  was  always  most  respectful,  and 
appeared  to  give  Free  State  men  credit 
for  acting  honestly  and  efficiently,  al 
though  not  to  suit  him  or  his  policy. 

Very  truly,  C.  ROBINSON. 

Whether  this  interview  was  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1857  or  1858,  is  not  important  to 
these  inquiries.  It  shows  how  the  Gov 
ernor  regarded  the  prolongation  of  civil 
strife,  and  how  sincerely  desirous  he  was 
to  end  it.  And  it  gives  us,  in  his  own 
words,  what  he  thought  of  John  Brown's 
services  in  Kansas  as  an  auxiliary  in  the 
cause  of  freedom. 

"KANSAS  TOO  HOT  FOII  HIM." 

Another  interesting  period  in  Kansas 
history  is  passed,  lying  between  the  mid 
dle  Qf  November,  1857,  to  the  last  of 
June,  1858,  when  our  hero  again  appears 
upon  the  scene.  There  had  been  more 
or  less  difficulty  for  soipe  months,  in 
southern  Kansas,  growip  7  out  of  conflict 
ing  land  titles  between  Free  State  and 
pro-slavery  men.  This  led  to  aggressive 
acts  on  the  part  of  each  of  the  contending 
factions. 

'  party  of  armed  pro-slavery  ruffians, 
^metime  in  June,  1858,  under  the  lead 
ership  of  one  Hamilton,  visited  a  Free 
State  neighborhood,  and  gathered  one  by 
one,  eleven  citizens,  marched  them  into  a 
deep  ravine,  formed  them  into  line,  and 
fired  upon  them.  They  all  fell  to  the 
ground,  five  were  instantly  killed,  five 
were  seriously  wounded,  and  one  escaped 
unharmed. 

An  intense  excitement  justly  lollowed 
this  bloody  procedure.  The  whole 
country  was  on  fire.  Capt  Brown  was  in 
the  States  at  the  time,  had  just  made  ar 
rangements  for  the  completion  of  his 
pikes  in  Connecticut,  and  for  their  ship 
ment  to  Chambersburgh,  Pa.,  on  their  way 
to  Virginia.  He  again  hurried  to  Kan 
sas,  taking  his  faithful  Kagi  with  him. 
According  to  Redpath,  one  of  the  mo 
tives  which  prompted  Captain  Brown  to 


return  to  Kansas,  at  this  time,  was  to  di 
vert  attention  from  his  Harper's  Ferry 
project.  On  his  return  to  Iowa,  in  '57, 
from  Lawrence,  he  had  freely  c6mmuni- 
cated  to  Col.  Forbes,  his  drill  master,  his 
changed  plan  of  operations.  During  the 
winter  they  fell  out,  and  Forbes  left  for 
the  East.  The  Captain  was  fearful  that 
the  Colonel  would  communicate  to  the 
government  his  plan  of  operating  in  Vir- 
ginia,hence  his  appearance  in  Kansas,the 
Marias  des  Cygnes  massacre  furnishing 
an  excuse,  to  disguise  his  real  purpose. 
From  that  time  until  the  close  ot 
1858,  civil  strife,  with  all  its  horrors, 
raged  in  the  counties  of  Linn  and  Bour 
bon,  which  bordered  on  Missouri. 

Neighbor  was  arrayed  against  neigh 
bor,  and  each  party  sought  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  other.  Conservative  Free 
State  men  and  pro-slavery  men  united 
and  tried  to  allay  the  excitement.  The 
result  was  their  being  indiscriminately 
pillaged  by  each  party.  Crimination 
and  re-crimination  was  the  order  of  the 
day.  Though  the  disturbance  was  origi 
nally  began  by  the  pro-slavery  agitators, 
the  violence  of  Hamilton  met  with  earn 
est  hostility  from  his  own  party  friends, 
and  many  joined  the  conservative  Free 
State  men  in  trying  to  suppress  the 
discord. 

The  reader  would  not  be  interested  in 
a  reviewal  and  detailed  history  of  these 
exciting  times.  And  I  am  frank  to  own 
that  I  have  not  the  requisite  knowledge 
to  a  clear  exposition  of  them.  Neither 
can  I  tell  what  important  part  John 
Brown  played  in  them,  other  than  he  was 
assocated  with  the  extreme  Free  State 
men  in  making  reprisals  from  the  oppos 
ing  factions. 

The  Herald  of  Freedom  was  regularly 
issued  during  this  period,  and  correspon 
dents  were  continual! y  reporting  the 
condition  of  affairs,  bvt  th«  st 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


were  so  conflicting  that  it  seemed  almost 
impossible  to  arrive  at  the  truth. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  the 
Mayhawking"  fraternity  sprang  into  be- 
inir,  and  such  men  as  Quautrell,  who  at 
that  time  was  recognized  as  a  Free  State 
man ,  coming  originally  from  Ohio,  was 
educated  for  the  terrible  work  he  was 
afterwards  guilty  of,  in  leading  a  large 
party,  [I  was  about  to  say  five 
hundred,  but  apprehensive  that  John 
Speer,  or  some  other  critic,  had  counted 
them,  and  found  there  were  but  four 
hundred  and  ninety-nine,  I  have  con 
cluded  to  be  extremely  cautious,]  of 
Bu-hwhackers  into  Lawrence,  and  shoot 
ing-  down  in  cold  blood  one  hundred  and 
eighty  citizens,robbed  the  banks,  pillaged 
the  town, and  burned  the  best  portion  of  it, 
leaving  ruin,  desolation  and  death  every 
where.  Tt  was  a  fearful  school,  and  the 
consequences  were  not  limited  to  a  few 
years,  nor  confined  to  Kansas. 

Brown  made  repeated  raids  into  Mis 
souri  captured  horses,  "blooded  stock," 
ran  off  slaves,  and  made  his  name  a  ter 
ror  through  all  that  region.  The  Gov 
ernor  of  Missouri  offered  a  reward  of 
$8,000  for  his  apprehension,  and  made  a 
requisition  on  the  Governor  of  Kansas 
for  his  arrest  and  extradition  as  a  fugi 
tive  from  justice.  President  Buchanan 
added  to  the  reward. 

Gov.  Denver,  some  time  during  this 
agitation,  called  to  his  aid  Gov.  Robin- 
eon,  who  had  the  confidence  of  the  Free 
State  men,  and  they,  in  company,  visited 
the  infected  region,  held  public  meetings, 
and  labored  with  their  respective  friends 
to  restore  tranquility  to  the  disturbed 
country.  The  United  States  District 
Court,  Judge  Elmore  presiding,  impan 
eled  a  Grand  Jury,  and  subpoenaed  a 
hundred  or  more  witnesses,  and  called 
them  to  Lawrence  to  give  evidence  with 
a  view  to  indictments. 

While  the  Court  was  yet  in  session,  the 


Legislature  passed  a  general  amnesty 
law;  the  Grand  Jury  was  discharged;  the 
witnesses  returned  to  their  homes ;  and 
quiet  was  restored  to  the  convulsed 
border. 

The  American  Cyclopedia  says:—  "Not 
only  was  a  reward  offered  for  Brown's  ar 
rest,  but  the  more  moderate  Free  State  men 
hastejied  to  disavow  any  sympathy  with  his 
daring  acts.  The  Territory  became  TOO 
HOT  FOR  HIM,  and  he  started,  early  in 
January,  1859,  for  the  North,  accom 
panied  by  four  white  companions  and  the 
liberated  negroes." 

Since  then,  save  the  troubles  growing 
out  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  excesses 
produced  by  bad  men  educated  to  deeds 
of  violence  in  these  exciting  times,  many 
of  whom,  it  is  presumed,  have  paid  the 
penalty  for  their  wrongs  in  the  peniten 
tiary,  and  an  occasional  Indian  scare  on 
the  Western  border,  general  trauquility 
has  prevailed  throughout  Kansas.  The 
Lecompton  Constitution  was  defeated  ;  & 
State  Constitution,  by  the  honest  settlers, 
was  made,  and  the  new  State  indue  time 
became  a  member  of  the  Federal  Union 
with  the  motto  on  its  seal  of  "Ad  astro, 
per  aspera,"  [To  the  Stars  through  diffi 
culties,]  and  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
State  was  secured. 

EXAGGEllATIONS  OF  HIS  EULOGISTS. 

The  eastern  press,  and  the  eulogists  ol 
John  Brown,  were  not  Content  to  make 
him  a  model  hero,  in  almost  every  direc 
tion,  but  they  gave  him  credit  for  fight 
ing  bravery  where  battles  were  never 
fought:  they  made  him  a  leader  where  he 
did  not  command ;  they  represented  him 
a  veteran  warrior  in  battles  fought  while 
he  was  a  stripling  of  fourteen  years,  and 
full  eight  hundred  miles  from  (he  battle 
field ;  they  gave  him  command  of  troops 
•where  there  were  none  to  tight;  defended 
a  town  against  a  heavy  invading  /orce 
where  every  one  fled  to  the  brush;  said 
he  was  the  savior  of  a  city,  where  the 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


did  not  fire  a  gun;  they  repre 
sented  him  as  possessing  wisdom  he  did 
not  exhibit;  with  judgment  to  which  he 
seemed  a  stranger;  with  owning  cabins  in 
fhich  he  was  only  a  visitor;  with  being 
a  grower  of  blooded  stock,  to  put  it 
mildly,  which  he  pressed  from  their  own 
ers  ;  with  being  a  heavy  landed  proprietor 
in  Kansas,  where  he  never  owned  a  rood ; 
with  having  a  home  in  Kansas  when  it 
was  in  north-eastern  New  York;  claimed 
that  his  wife  was  insulted  and  abused, 
when  she  was  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  distant  from  the  place  of  pretended 
outrage;  that  he  had  a  son  hacked  to 
pieces  by  a  hatchet,  whom  it  is  question 
able  if  he  ever  saw  or  heard  of  him  until 
after  his  death. 

Even  the  portraits  exhibited  by  the  ad 
mirers  of  old  John  Brown  are  frauds. 
During  the  whole  period  he  was  known 
in  Kansas  he  wore  a  long,  flowing  beard. 
And  the  same  was  true  of  him,  at  the 
time  ot  his  execution;  but  the  pictures 
his  friends  take  delight  in,  were  those  of 
a  man  several  years  younger,  with  a 
smooth  shaven  face  —  probably  John 
Brown,  the  wool-buyer;  certainly  not 
John  Brown,  the  Guerilla  Chieftain. 

They  credited  him  with  making  Kan 
sas  a  Free  State,  whereas  he  retarded  its 
prosperity  and  threwobstacles  in  the  way 
of  its  most  zealous  and  effective  workers. 
Every  slave  he  aided  in  escaping  from 
Missouri;  every  horse  pressed  into  his 
service;  and  every  injury  inflicted  upon 
pro-slavery  men  was  repeated  on  Free 
State  mea,  by  friends  of  the  injured 
party,  with  compound  interest. 

Not  content  with  all  these,  and  num 
berless  other  misrepresentations  ol  a  sim 
ilar  character,  they  next  gave  him  a  res 
idence  in  Osawotomie,  where  he  only 
lived  at  times  in  the  guise  of  a  visitor 
with  his  sister,  or  other  friends;  and,  to 
crown  all,  gave  him  a  title  robfar1-  from 


another.     And  that  shall  be  the   subject 
of  my  next  sub-division. 

OSAWOTOMIE  BROWN. 

Osawotomie  lies  near  the  junction  of 
the  Marias  des  Cygnes  and  Potawotomia 
creeks.  Uniting  at  this  point  '  the  river 
below  is  known  as  the  Osage. 

The  town  was  located  early  in  the 
spring  of  1855,  by  S.  C.  Pomeroy,  repre 
senting  the  N.  2.  Emigrant  Aid  Com 
pany,  and  Orville  C.  Brown,  a  lawyer 
from  Utica,  N.  Y.  The  name  of  the  town 
was  compounded  by  dropping  the  last 
two  letters  from  Osage,  and  the  first  five 
from  Pottawotomie,  joining,  formed  Osa 
wotomie,  with  but  one  s,  as  here  printed. 
[O-sa-wot-o-mie.] 

Mr.  Brown  usually  employed  only  his 
initials  in  writing  his  individual  name. 
As  there  were  so  many  other  Browns  in 
Kansas,  and  as  Orville  became  quite 
prominent  in  our  early  conventions,  he 
was  frequently  referred  to  and  known  at 
Lawrence,  and  elsewhere,  as  Osawotomie 
Brown.  I  recollect  very  well  the  earn 
estness  he  exhibited  when  arrested  by  the 
mob  at  Kansas  City  in  place  of  the 
writer,  and  his  protest  that  he  was  not 
the  Brown  they  wanted.  He  was  taken 
to  Riddlesbarger's  for  identity,  dis 
charged,  and  then  the  renewal  of  the  ef 
fort  to  take  the  "undersigned." 

When  Osawotomie  was  invaded  by 
Missouri,  in  a  fruitless  attempt  to  cap 
ture  old  John  Brown,  for  the  Pottawoto 
mie  murders,  a  son  of  Orville,  «ged  four 
teen,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  maraud 
ers  and  was  carried  into  Missouri. 
After  a  painful  search  he  was  found  at 
Lexington,  in  the  care  of  a  Presbyterian 
deacon,  who  gladly  restored  him  to  his 
almost  frantic  parents.  From  about  this 
time  I  lose  sight  of  "the  genuine,  original 
and  simon  pure"  Osawotomie  Brown. 
Two  years  later  we  find  the  Eastern  press 
applying  the  pseudonym  of  "Osawoto- 


.  REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  RBOWN 


jnie"  to  old  John  Urown,  the  man  whose 
"soul  is  marching  on." 

The  press  also  confounded  the  name  of 
R.  P.  Brown,  mistaking  him  for  a  son  of 
old  John,  whereas  he  was  a  teacher  from 
Michigan,  engaged  professionally  for  a 
period  in  Mississippi.  Seeing  a  negro 
burned  alive  in  that  State,  for  some  tri 
fling  offense,  as  he  told  the  writer,  he 
left  the  South  in  great  disgust,  came  to 
Kansas,  and  located  near  Leaven- 
worth.  He  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  some  drunken  pro-slavery  ruffians,  be 
cause  of  his  intelligence,  coolness  and 
intrepidity  in  defense  of  his  Free  State 
neighbors,  was  set  upon  about  the  mid 
dle  of  January,  1856,  and  was  struck  sev 
eral  times  on  the  head  with  the  sharp 
edge  of  a  hatchet,  by  which  his  skull 
was  fractured.  He  was  then  thrown  into 
a  lumber  wagon,  taken  home,  and  bru 
tally  dragged  into  the  yard,where  he  died 
sooa  atter,  living  loner  enough  to  say, 
"They  have  murdered  me  like  a  dog."  It 
was  a  terrible  affair,  and  the  actors  in 
the  tragedy  deserved  a  dozen  deaths;  but 
he  and  old  John  Brown  were  strangers, 
unless  they  became  acquainted  during 
the  so-called  uWakarusa  War." 

NOT    ALL    BAD. 

I  am  not  writing  a  "biography  of  John 
Brown,'"  nor  a  "History  of  Kansas,"  as 
my  critics  allege;  but  "Reminiscences," 
or  recollection?,  as  the  word  is  defined, 
of  the  Captain,  with  "Incidents"  or 
sketches  ot  those  times.  Neither  am  I 
laboring  to  make  my  hero  a  monster  of 
iniquity  on  the  one  hand,  or  a  saint  on 
the  other.  I  have  desired  to  tell  only 
what  I  knew  of  him,  and  what  has  come 
lo  me,  and  which  I  believed,  from  others. 

The  Captain  and  the  writer  differed 
widely  as  regards  the  means  to  be  em 
ployed  to  prevent  the  extension  and  se 
cure  the  final  extinction  of  slavery,  as 
upon  many  other  subjects.  From  my 
earliest  recollection  war  seemed  to  me  a 


terrible  calamity.  History  was  never  a 
source  of  delight,  because  it  was  mostly 
detailed  accounts  of  bloodshed  and  vio 
lence.  I  always  thought  there  was  no 
necessity  for  the  arbitrament  of  the 
sword;  that  the  differences  between  indi. 
viduals.  States  and  nations  ought  to  find 
a  solution  in  peaceful  means.  The  God 
I  reverenced  was  a  tender  Parent,  ever 
seeking  the  elevation  and  happiness  of 
his  creatures,  never  their  degradation. 

The  shedding  of  human  blood,  in  my 
humble  estimation,  is  never  justifiable 
save  in  defense  of  life,  or  when  it  cannot 
be  otherwise  avoided. ,-  Capt.  Brown's 
oft-quoted  expression,  "Without  the 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission," 
seemed  to  give  character  to  all  the  latter 
years  of  his  life.  He  was  a  friend  of  the 
oppressed;  with  enlarged  sympathies;  a 
praying  man;  and,  in  many  respects,  no 
doubt,  a  good  man;  but  with  his  peculiar 
organization,  and  his  earnest  desire  to 
aid  the  poor  slave,  he  did  not  properly 
take  into  consideration  the  condition, 
nor  properly  respect  the  rights,  liberty 
and  person  of  the  master. 

Like,  the  "Liberator,"  I  was  an  anti- 
slavery  man;  an  abolitionist;  a  Free 
Soiler  of  the  John  Quincy  Adams  and  J. 
R.  Giddings  school ;  but  in  going  to  Kan 
sas  I  proposed  to  fight  the  battles  of  free 
dom  on  that  plane  which  I  believed 
would  ensure  success,  and  make  that  ter 
ritory,  and  all  others  bordering  upon  it, 
free  territory.  "One  thing  at  a  time"  has 
always  seemed  an  excellent  maxim.  By 
occupying  certain  positions  we  could  ob 
tain  such  assistance  as  to  insure  the 
results  we  aimed  at;  while  an  opposite 
one  would,  no  doubt,  have  driven  thous 
ands  from  us.  I  was  opposed  to  what 
was  known  as  the  "black  laws,"  and  so 
were  n'early  if  n;>t  all  from  the  New  Eng 
land  and  Middle  States.  The  Western 
pioneers,  and  the  great  mass,  if  not  all 
who  acted  with  us  from  the  South,  on 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BKOWN. 


the  contrary,  were  Free  State  men  only 
on  the  condition  that  negroes  should  be 
prohibited  from  settling  among  us.  We 
of  the  East  and  North  felt  the  terrible 
injustice  of  such  a  provision,  and  labored, 
against  it  until  we  saw  we  were  endan 
gering  everything  by  our  persistency; 
then  we  subordinated  our  feelings  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  masses,  and  remained 
silent,  confident  that  more  enlarged 
views  would  ultimately  prevail,  when  we 
could  regain  what  was  temporarily  lost. 
John  Brown,  on  the  contrary,  was  firm 
and  unbending.  He  conceded  that  his 
course  had  driven  many,  otherwise 
friends,  into  the  opposition;  still  he  kept 
TO,  determined  to  yield  nothing  for  suc- 
tess.  By  so  doing,  but  for  others,  we 
must  have  lost  all. 

)That  John  Brown  had  many  traits  of 
character  which  commended  him  to  the 
admiration  of  the  public  I  am  well 
aware.  When  on  his  way  to  the  gallows 
he  stooped  and  kissed  a  black  child,  a 
poor  creature  doomed,  so  far  as  the 
world  the  a  knew,  to  a  life  of  toil  and 
bondage.  This  incident  aroused  our 
tenderest  sympathy.  That  act  did  much 
*jo  redeem  his  past  wrongs ;  but  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  cover  him  all  over  with 
adulation,  falsifying  history,  and  rob 
other  men  of  their  merits,  to  make  liim 
Appear  more  sublime.  I  was  willing  to 
give  him  more  than  the  benefit  of  a 
doubt,  and  admit  that — in  all  his  de- 
demands  for  "blood,"  when  he  was  so 
anxious  to  "go  out  and  draw  a  little"  at 
Lawrence,  from  the  invaders;  when  send 
ing  word  to  Gen.  Lane  that  he  would  not 
obey  another  order  unless  it  was  to  fight; 
his  statement  to  Stearns  that  it  would 
require  a  God  to  take  Lecompte  out  of 
his  hands  if  he  had  caught  hjm;  his 
whole  life  in  Kansas,  one  of  blood — he 
was  partly  insane — a  monomaniac  on  the 
subject  of  slavery;  a  religious  enthusiast, 
K  the  reader  prefers,  thinking  that  hn 


was  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God 
to  wipe  out  American  slavery. 

It  may  be  said  that  Brown  was  justi 
fied  in  his  bloody  exhibitions  of  charac 
ter,  because  of  the  violence  of  pro-slavery 
men.  Others  suffered  far  more  than  he, 
and  their  brutal  passions  were  never 
aroused  into  violence.  And  he  was  by 
no  means  the  only  one  who  heard  threats 
of  indiscriminate  slaughter  and  extermi 
nation.  For  many  months  they  were 
heard  continually,  and  great  coolness  and 
forbearance  were  employed  by  Free  State 
men  everywhere,  determined  to  act  only 
on  the  defensive.  The  writer  has  many 
vivid  recollections  of  those  times,  with 
his  own  painful  experience ;  but  he  looked 
upon  the  persecutions  as  an  offshoot  oi 
the  accursed  system  he  was  laboring  tc 
put  down,  and  looked  forward  with  hope 
to  the  time  when  his  eftoits  would  be 
crowned  with  victory.  It  was  this  as 
surance  of  final  success  that  nerved  all, 
the  humblest  and  highest,  to  press  for 
ward,  and  which  has  ultimated  in  giving 
freedom  to  the  world . 

John  Brown,  the  professed  Christian, 
should  have  taken  lessons  from  his  Ex 
emplar,  instead  of  showing  such  a  thirst 
for  blood,  His  character  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  after  he  was  wounded,  while  under 
arrest,  his  hopes  blighted,  and  even  while 
in  the  engine  house  in  the  treatment  of 
prisoners,  was  in  pleasing  contrast  with 
what  he  exhibited  in  Kansas,  and  seems 
almost  irreconcilable  with  his  disregard 
cf  human  life  at  Pottawotomie. 

CONFIRMATION. 

I  have  been  careful,  throughout  this 
scries  of  articles,  to  make  no  statement 
of  my  own,  that  John  Brown  was  di 
rectly  connected  with  the  Pottawotomie 
massacre ;  but  I  have  arrayed  such  evi~ 
dence  as  was  in  my  possession,  to  prove 
this  fact  upon  him.  How  successful  I 
have  been  is  left  to  others  to  decide. 
Allow  me,  reader,  before  I  close,  to  r.«M 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN 


the  additional  facts  which  have  come 
into  my  possession,  as  I  hope  to  settle 
his  qu  estion  beyond  further  controversy. 

A  well-known  gentleman  of  integrity, 
a  prominent  citizen  of  Lawrence,  well 
known  to  me,  since  the  spring  of  1855, 
wrote  me  a  private  letter,  of  date  Nov. 
16,  1879,  from  which  I  make  the  follow 
ing  extract : 

"Just  before  sunset,  on  the  night  of  the 
massacre,  I  met  old  John  Brown  and  his 
party,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Doyle 
settlement,  on  the  Pottawotomie,  and 
going  in  that  direction.  John  Brown, 
Jr.,  and  his  company,  were,  at  the  time, 
in  camp  at  Palmyra,  this  county.  Old 
John  Brown  and  his  party  left  the  camp 
early  in  the  day,  and  did  not  return  until 
the  next  day,  when  they  came  to  the 
camp,  then  on  Toywa  creek  near  Jones'. 
*  *  I  have  never  felt  disposed  to  make 
the  facts  of  that  affair  public." 

Another  gentleman  of  Lawrence  wrote 
me.  Nov.  23,  1879  : 

"I  have  been  reading  your  articles  on 
old  John  Brown.  I  am  glad  to  see  some 
one  has  the  courage  to  write  the  truth 
about  the  Pottawotomie  affair;  but,  good 
Lord,  wont  they  go  for  you?  I  have  often 
felt  like  telling  what  I  know  about  it; 
but  I  was  conscious  those  who  were 
wholly  ignorant  of  the  facts,  and  were 
determined  to  remain  so,  would  say  I 
was  telling  that  which  was  not  true, 
hence  I  have  remained  silent." 

Even  John  Speer,  who  has  higgled 
over  the  most  unimportant  statements  I 
have  made  in  this  series  of  articles,  and 
who  has  always  been  recognized  as  the 
special,  champion  of  old  John  Brown, 
finding  he  could  not  sustain  an  alibi,  and 
the  proof  of  his  guilt  being  so  over 
whelming,  says,  in  an  article  which 
appeared  in  the  Lawrence  Journal,  No 
vember  25,  1879:— 

UI  have  taken  great  pains  to  get  at  the 
truth  of  the  history  of  the  'Pottawotomie 
tragedy',  visiting  Pottawotomie  and  con 
versing  with  the  men  of  Brown's  time, 
with  a  view  to  facts,  let  them  fall  where 
they  may.  I  find  that  the  belief,  con 
firmed  by  the  traditions,  ^o  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  fact  that  John  Brown  ex 


ecuted  these  men.  That  he  ever  mutilated 
their  bodies,  or  did  anything  except  what 
was  necessary  in  their  execution,  1  do  not 
believe,  nor  does  any  man  who  knew 
John  Brown." 

John  Speer  is  welcome  to  use  the  word 
"executed"  in  place  of  "murdered?  as 
used  by  Robinson,  of  Paola,  if  he  prefers. 
And  as  to  the  mutilation,  I  leave  that 
with  Phillips,  in  his  story  about  the 
Camanches,  and  the  sworn  evidence  of 
those  who  first  discovered  the  bodies 
after  the  killing,  as  given  under  the  head 
of  "Details  of  the  Massacre."  ; 

By  private  letters  from  Kansas,  I  learn 
that  Hon.  Jas.  Hanway,  whose  cabin  was 
photographed,  and  palmed  off  as  old 
John  Brown's,  has  made  a  statement 
through  the  press  touching  those  mur 
ders;  and  while  this  article  is  in  type  foi 
the  press,  I  am  in  "receipt  of  a  letter  from 
a  prominent  lawyer  at  Lawrence,  stating: 

"I  am  going  this  week  to  Osawotomie, 
to  interview  the  man  who  gave  Johnson 
Clark  the  facts;  and  expect  to  get  his 
statement  over  his  own  signature.  We 
shall  soon  have  the  whole  history  in  do- 
tail.  I  think  it  a  matter  of  importance 
that  all  the  truth  be  known  and  published. 
I  have  been  reading  your  articles  with 
great  interest." 

THE  CLINCHER. 

Hidden  away  in  a  large  book,  the  Kan 
sas  volume  "United  States  Biographical 
Dictionary,"  and  rarely  seen  by  any  per 
son  other  than  the  few  simpletons  who 
paid  twenty  dollars  for  a  copy  of  the 
work,  with  the  additional  pleasure  of 
seeing  their  names  in  it,  as  "distinguished 
in  history,"  is  found  the  following  state 
ment,  exhumed  by  JOHN  HUTCIIINGS, 
Esq ,  of  Lawrence,  Kan.,  and  which  he 
kindly  gave  to  the  public  through  the 
columns  of  the  Home  Journal,  of  Nov. 
20,  1879,  from  which  I  quote  at  length. 
It  is  a  statement  made  by  Hon.  Johnson 
Clark,  of  Miami  county,  Kan.  Rather 
choice  literature  in  this  connection : 

On  May   24,    1855,   William   Sherman 


50 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


called  at  the  house  of  John  T.  Grant,  a 
Free  State  man  trom  New  York,  and 
there,  in  anger  and  in  liquor,  told  the 
Grant  family  that  they,  (the  pro-slavery 
men,)  intended  to  drive  out  the  Free  State 
men  from  Pottawotomie  Creek  and  othe 
parts  of  Kansas.  This  alarmed  Grant, 
and  he  sent  his  son  George  to  the  camp 
of  John  Brown,  who  was  at  that  time  on 
Ottawa  Creek,  some  twenty-five  miles 
northwest.  Upon  arriving  in  camp, 
young  Grant  told  John  Brown  the  con 
dition  of  things  in  his  neighborhood,  and 
the  trouble  anticipated  if  help  was  not 
had  immediately.  And  here  it  is  proper 
to  state  that  news  had  come  from  Kansas 
City  that  Buford  had  organized  and 
armed  a  large  force  of  Georgia  immi 
grants,  and  was  about  to  march  upon 
Kansas.  The  news  had  also  arrived  that 
Lawrence  was  in  ashes,  and  that  our  Free 
State  Governor,  Robinson,  was  a  prisoner 
in  the  hands  of  pro-slavery  "border-ruf 
fians,1'  at  Leaven  worth.  In  brief,  it  was 
u  time  of  terror  FO  appalling  that  it  was 
felt  that  the  destiny  of  Kansas  was 
trembling  in  the  balance,  and  its  fate 
u  bout  to  be  decided. 

When  old  John  Brown  received  this 
message  from  Pottawotomie,  in  addition 
to  all  other  words  of  distress,  a  council 
was  held  in  his  camp.  A  party  of  eight 
was  formed,  headed  and  commanded  by 
Brown  himself.  The  names  of  the  other 
members  of  this  party  were  as  follows: 
Frederick  Brown,  Owen  Brown,  Watson 
Brown,  Oliver  Brown,  Henry  Thompson, 
(Brown's  son-in-law,)  Mr.  Wyner,  and 
last  the  man  whr  now  lives  in  Kansas 
and  gives  me  the  particulars,  and  before 
whom  I  am  now  writing.  This  last-men 
tioned  party,  whom  we  will  call  Mr.  T., 
took  this  party  in  his  wagon  and  started 
from  Ottawa  Creek  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  arriving  at  the  scene  of  tie 
tragedy  about  midnight. 

The  first  attack  was  upon  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Doyle  and  his  two  sons,  they 
being  parties  that  had  threatened.  They 
were  immediately  dispatched,  and  left 
lying  in  the  woods  near  the  cabin  where 
they  resided.  They  next  visited  the  house 
of  a  man  named  Wilkinson,  who  was  at 
the  time  a  postmaster  under  Buchanan, 
and  who  lived  about  one-half  mile  from 
the  Doyle  residence,  and  Wilkinson  was 
found  dead  the  next  morning.  The  party 
then  proceeded  to  the  premises  of  the 


Sherman  brothers,  which  was  across  the 
creek,  and  about  one  mile  distant.  It 
was  the  intention  to  dispatch  both  these 
men,  as  they  had  been  particularly  active 
in  the  pro-slavery  cause.  Henry  Sherman 
was  out  hunting  cattle  and  had  staid  over 
night  with  a  pro-slavery  friend,  but  find 
ing  William,  they  called  him  out  and 
left  him  dead  in  the  middle  of  the  creek, 
upon  some  rocks  and  gravel.  They  then 
wanten  Mr.  1  to  drive  them  to  another 
place  but  it  was  now  late  at  night,  and 
he  declined  to  take  them  any  further. 

.  Mr.  T  says  that  Brown's  boys  did  most 
of  the  killing,  by  the  advice  and  with  the 
encouragement  of  old  John  Brown  him 
self,  and  adds,  furthei,  that  Browi.  him- 
pelf,to  nerve  his  party  for  the  deeds  about 
to  be  done,  stepped  in  front  oi  the  first 
victim— the  old  man  Doyle — and,  draw 
ing  his  revolver,  shot  him  through  the 
forehead.  In  conclusion,  I  will  only  add 
that  this  is  the  generally  accepted  version 
of  the  affair,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  trag- 
ed}7",  and  thnt,  notwithstanding  historians 
have  written  to  the  contrary,  I  have  no 
doubt  but  time  will  vindicate  the  correct 
ness  of  this  statement,  which  is  from  Mr. 
T.,  the  only  known  witness  living  in  the 
State.  This  Mr.  T.  is  a  quiet  farmer,  and 
now  lives  within  a  radius  of  a  dozen 
miles  of  the  dreadful  scene  he  witnessed. 
This  statement  has  been  made^.to  the 
writer  of  this,  by  Mr.  T.,  a  dozerr*  times, 
and,  in  company  with  Judge  James  Han- 
way,  I  visited  him  at  his  house,  where 
this  is  written,  and,  after  hearing  it  read, 
he  said :  ''It  is  correct."  After  a  silence 
of  a  few  moments  he  added:  "I  took  no 
hand  in  the  ki'ling,  and  did  not  approve 
of  it,  but  Brown  said:  'It  must  be  done; 
it  is  better  that  a  score  of  bad  men  should 
die  than  one  man  be  driven  from  Kansas 
who  came  here  to  help  make  it  a  free 
State.' "  JOHNSON  CLARK. 

Mr.  Hutchings  adds: 

It  will  be  seen  by  Mr.  Clark's  state 
ment  that  the  party  that  committed  the 
Pottawotomie  tragedy  consisted  of  six 
members  of  the  Brown  family,  and  t  vo 
others,  one  of  whom  at  least  was  the 
"settler  in  the  neighborhood." 

;  CHANCE  FOR   CORRECTION. 

These  Reminiscences,  as  I  contem 
plated1  when  I  commenced  them,  )i.ave 
awakened  much  interest  in  the  Kansa* 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  RBOWN. 


61 


tors  mi^ht  see  my  statements,  and  cor 
rect  any  errors ;  as  I  did  not  flatter  my 
self  I  could  write  of  so  many  things,  all 
occurring  more  than  twenty  years  ago, 
relying  almost  wholly  on  memory,  with 
out  being  guilty  of  some  mistakes.  In 
deed  in  my  acceptance  of  Gov.  Robin 
son's  invitation  to  write  of  Old  John 
Brown,  I  said : 

"I  shall  endeavor  to  state  nothing  but 
facts,  as  seen  from  my  own  standpoint." 

I  did  not  propose  to  write  from  John 
Speer's  standpoint,  nor  from  that  of  my 
critics.  Had  I  attempted  it,  probably 
my  breadth  of  observation  would  have 
been  far  more  limited.  I  might  have 
seen  some  trifling  matters  quite  differ 
ently  ;  though  from  the  former's  exhibi 
tion  of  criticisms,  which  I  shall  notice 
farther  on,  I  think  Truth  would  have 
suffered  quite  as  much  in  his  hands  as  ia 
mine. 

The  Lawrence  Journal,  a  Republican 
paper,  published  -  v  T.  D.  Thacher,  Esq., 
who  has  been  identified  with  the  Kansas 
'^ress  sinc<3  1857,  kindly  opened  its 
co'umnp,  and  is  publishing  the  entire 
series,  cheerfully  giving  space  to  corres 
pondents  lo  make  corrections,  for  which 
I  take  this  occasion  to  publicly  thank  the 
editor. 

The  Ottawa  Gazette,  a  Democratic 
paper,  published  in  Franklin  county,  in 
which  the  Pottowatomie  murders  oc 
curred,  edited  by  Joel  K.  Goodin,  Esq., 
who  was  among  the  first  settlers  in  Kan 
sas  associated  with  us  in  all  our  early 
history,  and  who  was  the  faithful  secre 
tary  of  the  Territorial  Executive  Com 
mittee,  and  who  certainly  did  more  !aard 
labor  without  recompense  than  any  other 
man  in  Kansas,  is  also  publishing  the 
entire  series.  In  a  personal  letter  before 
me,  be  compliments  the  general  accuracy 
of  my  statements,  and  says  that  my  arti 
cles  are  giving  general  satisfaction. 

Through  these  channels  excellent  op 
portunities  have  been  offered  to  point  out 


errors  for  emendation.  Very  few  of  such 
have  come  under  my  observation.  Theae 
I  will  take  occasion  to  correct 

Gov.  Robinson,  at  whoso  request  these 
articles  were  written,  in  a  communication 
press,  and  brought  out  a  vast  amount  of 
facts,  which,  but  for  their  publication, 
would  have  been  lost  to  the  world.  Had 
I  written,  and  deposited  them  in  the  ar 
chives  ot  the  Historical  Society,  the  his 
torian  a  few  years  later  would  have  found 
the  statements,  and  copied  from  them, 
and  thus  no  opportunity  would  have 
been  left  for  correction.  I  made  it  a 
condition  of  writing  them  that  they 
should  appear  in  three  of  the  lead'ng 
papers  of  Kansas,  to  the  end  that  the  ac- 
to  the  Lawrence  Journal,  of  Nov  23d, 
says: 

"Dr.  Brown's  letters  are  so  full  of  inter 
est  that  I  trust  he  will  continue  them  till  he 
has  covered  the  whole  field  of  Kam<<s  his 
tory.  I  have  seen  no  history  that,  will 
compare  in  interest  and  accuracy  with  liis 
letters;  and  a  complete  work  from  him 
would  be  invaluable.  Dr.  Brown  \vas  no 
friend  of  mine,  being  estranged  from  me, 
for  some  cause  I  never  fully  understood, 
for  eighteen  months,  so  that  we  had  no 
intercourse;  yet  the  estrangement  never 
prevented  us  acting  together  when  the 
cause  of  Kansas  called.  The  fact  that 
Dr.  Brown  knew  no  friendship  but.  in 
the  cause  of  free  Kansas,  makes  him 
the  fittest  man  to  be  the  historian  of 
Kansas." 

CORRECTIONS. 

While  I  have  received  a  large  number 
of  letters,  from  prominent  actors  in  those 
times,  fully  indorsing  every  material 
statement  I  have  made,  a  few  persons  of 
an  over  critical  turn  of  mind,  and  dis 
tressed  at  the  loss  of  a  "lesser  god,"  have 
controverted  several  minor  statements, 
predicated  on  information  derived  from 
others;  and  from  these  have  attempted  to 
weaken  the  force  of  my  entire  narration. 

As  before  stated,  I  coveted  criticism, 
to  the  end  that  truth  only  should  be 
transmitted  in  these  pages  to  those  who 
come  after  us. 


62 


REMINISCENCES  OF   OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


Instead  of  the  principal  facts  being 
weakened  by  criticisms,  every  one  has 
received  confirmation;  and  the  central 
figure  has  been  presented  in  a  more  dam 
aging  attitude  than  I  contemplated. 

I  stated,  under  the  head  of  "History  of 
a  Revolver,"  that  "the  shooting  of  Sheriff 
Jones  was  the  first  blood  actually  drawn 
by  Free  State  men  in  Kansas/'  To  have 
been  correct  I  should  have  said,  as  I  de 
sired  to  be  understood,  it  was  the  first  ag 
gressive  act  of  violence  by  Free  State  men. 
The  killing  of  Henry  DavL%  by  Lewis 
Kibby,  Nov.  29,  '54,  was  on  the  defensive; 
as  was  that  of  Malcom  Clark,  by  Cole 
Me  rca,  at  Leavenworth,  April  30,  ?55. 

I  did  not  state  that  Charley  Lenhart 
shot  Sheriff  Jones.  I  only  gave  the  facts 
of  the  loan  of  the  revolver,  by  rMiss  Glea- 
son ;  the  discharge,  which  she  heard ;  the 
hasty  return  of  Lenhart,  with  the  revol 
ver,  minus  one  charge ;  and  the  deduction 
that  it  was  Charley  who  did  the  shooting. 
By  the  statement  of  Capt.  Swift,  it  ap 
pears  that  Lenhart  did  discharge  the  re 
volver,  but  not  at  Jones;  that  it  was  a 
Mr.  Filer  who  inflicted  the  wound.  The 
critic  will  turn  to  my  account,  and  he 
will  see  that  I  did  not  err  in  fact,  but  in 
deduction. 

As  to  the  justice  of  applying  the  title 
of  "C'iptain"  to  Lenhart,  I  have  an  origi 
nal  "order"  in  my  possession,  in  Gen.  Jas. 
II.  Lane's  hand  writing,  and  signed  by 
him,  directed  to  "Captain  Charles  Len 
hart,''  ordering  him  to  "take  such  num 
ber  of  active  young  men  as  you  shall 
deem  necessary,  and  proceed  with  as  lit 
tle  delay  as  possible  to  colonize  Kick- 
apoo."  In  due  time  I  will  place  that  doc 
ument  in  the  Historical  Society  of  Kan 
sas.  Is  not  this  sufficient  authority  for 
me  to  mention  Charley  with  the  title  of 
Captain? 

The  rumor  I  gave  that  Leuhart  was 
killed  in  a  foolish  attempt  to  rescue 
CJapt.  Brown,  is  also  disproved.  It  seems 


he  served  his  country  during  the  first 
years  of  the  rebellion,  and  died  in  Ar 
kansas,  with  consumption,  while  yet  in 
the  service. 

It  is  claimed  that  I  was  mistaken  in 
the  statement,  that  the  Territorial  Exec 
utive  Committee  was  originally  appointed 
at  Big  Springs,  on  the  5th  of  September, 
1855;  whereas  it  is  represented  they  were 
appointed  at  Topeka  fourteen  days  later. 
The  question  is  not  important;  but  I 
think  I  can  demonstrate  that  my  memory 
is  correct  in  this  case.  1$  it  not  strange 
that  a  new  party  was  organized  without 
any  committee  to  represent  it  in  the 
futu/e?  The  committee,  unless  I  am 
greatly  mistaken,  was  appointed  at  Big 
Springs,  and  was  organized  by  trickery, 
as  I  will  show  sometime,  with  Col.  Lane, 
as  Chairman.  The  Topeka  Convention, 
on  the  19th,  was  holden  to  consider  the 
project  of  a  State  movement,  and  to  pre 
vent  any  collision  of  authority  re-ap 
pointed  the  Big  Springs'  committee,with 
Lane  as  Chairman,  and  J.  K.  Goodin  as 
Secretary.  I  wrote  up  the  proceedings 
in  detail,  of  the  Big  Springs  convention, 
and  published  the  same  in  the  Herald  of 
Freedom.  The  same  matter  was  used  in 
pamphlet  form,  two  thousand  copies  of 
which  were  printed,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
somebody  has  copies  of  them.  If  my 
memory  serves  me  correctly,  I  was  ap 
pointed  with  others,  a  committee  to  com 
municate  the  proceedings  of  the  Big 
Springs  convention  to  Gov.  Shannon. 
Would  I  have  been  likely  to  have  re 
ceived  this  appointment  if  not  a  dele 
gate? 

I  stated,  as  a  fact,  that  I  was  invited 
by  Gov.  Robinson,  who  is  President  of 
the  Historical  Society  of  Kansas,  to  write 
these  Reminiscences.  The  letter  of  in 
vitation  was  published  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  series,  and  shows  for  itself, 
that  it  was  not  done  in  Jiis  official  capacity. 
1  am  glad  to  write,  however,  that  two 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


copies  of  the  entire  work    will    be    pre 
served  by  that  body  among  its   archives. 

Again,  my  informant  was  somewhat 
mistaken  in  the  time  old  John  Brown 
left  the  camp  of  his  son,  going  in  the  di 
rection  of  Pottawotomie,  and  probably, 
as  to  the  place  and  hour  of  his  return. 
Human  memory  is  treacherous.  Possibly 
I  did  not  report  him  accurately. 

The  charge  that  I  have  systemized  the 
order  of  presenting  my  facts  is  puerile, 
and  unworthy  the  head  and  heart  of  the 
critic  making  the  objection.  He  who 
concedes  so  much  reverence  for  his  hero, 
and  who,  no  doubt,  indorsed  the  state 
ment,  credited  to  Ralph,  Waldo  Emer 
son,  that  "The  time  will  come  when  the 
gallows  of  old  John  Brown  will  be  glori 
ous  like  the  cross  of  Christ,"  ought  to  tol 
erate  a  little  honest  skepticism  in  that  di 
rection. 

A  quotation  is  made  from  a  letter  it  is 
jaid  old  John  Brown  wrote  to  Sanborn, 
o  destroy  the  force  of  my  facts,  that  the 
Herald  of  Freedom  was  in  disrepute  by 
Free  State  men.  That  paper  was  a  foe  to 
»11  forms  of  wrong  doing,  whether  com 
mitted  by  pro-slavery  men,  or  those  act- 
ng  in  the  Free  State  ranks.  Jayhawkers, 
thieves  and  murderers,  had  reason  to 
"despise  it,"  and  if  John  Brown  associated 
with  that  class  of  "Free  State  men,"  he, 
no  doubt,  heard  just  such  expressions  as 
it  is  claimed  he  employed  in  regard  to  it. 
The  position  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom 
through  all  those  times  is  one  I  can  look 
back  upon  with  pride,  as  I  trust  is  the 
case  with  every  other  honest  reader  of  it. 
Censure,  from  some  persons,  is  the 
highest  possible  commendation.  ** 

Under  the  head  of  "John  Brown  in 
Lawrence,''  first  paragraph,  I  said: 

"I  think  there  were  seven  men  stand 
ing  in  the  box.  *^  *  *  Each  man  sup 
ported  himself  with  a  pole,  probably  six 
to  eight  feet  in  length,  surmounted  with 
a  bayonet." 

John  Speer,  the  accurate  critic  and  very 


truthful  historian,  represents  thai  I  said: 
"John  Brown   came  with  seven   sons, 
armed  with  pike  poles  ten  feet  long." 

Three  additions  in  two  lines!  Now 
either  John  Speer  misrepresented  or  was 
mistaken!  Which?  He  had  just  read 
my  statements,  and,  if  disposed  to  play 
critic,  should  have  been  more  accurate. 
Possibly  there  were  but  four  sons  and  the 
father  in  the  wagon.  Does  that  render 
my  statement,  "I  think  there  were  seven 
men  in  the  box,"  invalid?  Twenty-four 
years  lie  between  that  event  and  the 
present,  and,  taking  Speer's  statement,  I 
erred  two-sevenths;  while  John  Speer 
converts  my  "poles"  "from  six  to  eight 
feet  in  length,"  into  "pike  poles  ten  feet 
in  length.  And  my  "seven  men"  into 
seven  sons,"  increasing  the  entire  number 
to  eight.  Will  some  mathematician  tell 
us  how  long  the  "poles  would  have  been, 
and  what  name  they  would  have  borne, 
had  he  waited  twenty-four  years  before 
writing?  And  how  many  men  would 
have  been  in  the  wagon,  had  he  told  the 
story  after  the  same  lapse  of  time? 

Williams,  riding  behind,  saw  the  party 
some  distance  back  sitting^  the  old  man 
with  a  rifle  across  his  knees.  Does  this 
prove  that  they  were  not  standing  when 
they  entered  town?  The  poles  were  green 
ones,  recently  cut,  and  still  covered  with 
bark.  Where  they  obtained  them,  or 
however  numerous  the  denials,  I  know 
the  poles  were  there,  and  the  facts  are 
just  as  I  have  stated. 

I  am  charged  with  being  a  partisan  of 
Gov.  Robinson.  From  the  3d  of  July, 
1856,  to  December  23d,  1857,  Gov.  R.  and 
myself  held  no  intercourse  with  each 
other.  From  that  time  to  my  leaving 
Kansas,  nearly  fifteen  years  ago,  we  only 
met  a  very  few  times,  and  then  to  ad 
vance  the  cause  which  took  each  of  us  to 
that  Territory.  I  was  never,  in  any 
sense,  a  partisan  of  Gov.  Robinson ;  but 
let  me  do  that  gentleman  and  myself  the 


64 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


justice  to  say,  that  while  the  breach  be 
tween  us  was  greatly  widened  by  the 
action  of  the  "professional  letter  writers," 
we  came  together,  almost  involuntarily, 
when  we  mutually  felt  that  the  freedom 
of  Kansas  was  contingent  on  our  harmo 
nious  action.  From  that  time  our  per 
sonal  animosities  ceased,  without  ex 
planation,  and  time,  I  trust,  has  satisfied 
each,  that  the  other  is  in  the  main,  at 
least  as  good  as  the  average  man,  without 
regard  to  what  the  world  may  say  in  that 
direction. 

Thus  much  for  my  reviewers.  If  any 
gentleman  will  write  me,  pointing  out 
any  other  errors,  it  will  give  me  pleasure 
to  make  the  proper  corrections  when 
these  pages  shall  be  again  put  in  type. 

THK  FLY  ON  THE  LOCOMOTIVE.. 

We  find,  running  through  recent  ac 
counts  of  John  Brown's  raid  into  Virgin 
ia,  the  very  silly  assertion  that  his  at 
tack,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  produced  the 
Rebellion  of  the  Southern  States,  and 
the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  conse 
quence.  ^This  assertion  is  of  a  similar 
character  with  that  of  the  eastern  press 
in  representing  the  Pottawotomie  massa 
cre  as  the  outgrowth  of  the  killing  of 
Frederick  Brown,  which  antedated  the 
killing  by  more  than  three  months. 

The  South  had  threatened  the  nullifi 
cation  of  United  States  laws,  as  early  as 
1832-'33,  and  a  general  conspiracy  for 
secession  was  set  on  foot;  but  the  whole 
movement  was  suppressed  by  the  master 
mind  of  Jackson.  Through  all  the  years 
that  followed  to  1861,  the  critical  ob 
server  saw  that  we  were  standing  on  the 
verge  of  a  smouldering  volcano,  ready  to 
burst  forth  at  any  time.  Calhoun  and 
associate  conspirators  were  ever  active  in 
furtherance  of  their  desires,  while  Ben- 
ton,  Clay  and  Webster  were  eqally  ener 
getic  to  thwart  their  purposes. 

Southern  success  in  securing  the  ad 
mission  of  Texas;  the  passage  of  the  com- 


promise  measures  of  1850;  and  the  ac 
quisition  of  newly  acquired  territory,  sus 
pended  their  action  for  a  time.  They 
lost  control  of  the  House  of  Represent 
atives,  in  1856;  and  the  admission  of  Kan 
sas  into  the  Union  in  1861,  destroyed 
their  last  hope  of  controlling  either 
branch  of  Congress ;  for  this,  with  the  ad 
mission  of  Minnesota,  gave  the  North  a 
heavy  preponderance  in  that  body,  which 
they  knew  they  could  never  regain. 

The  united  South  had  hoped  to  make 
Kansas  a  slave  State.  They  knew  it  was 
the  key  which  would  decide  the  fate  of 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Ne 
vada,  Arizona,  Montana,  Utah,  etc.  Fail 
ing  to  secure  their  wishes  in  this  respect ; 
and,  to  crown  the  causes  for  distress,  in 
a  square  issue  between  the  North  and 
South,  a  northern  President  was  elected. 
They  decided  to  submit  the  question  to 
the  arbitrament  of  war,  hoping  through  it 
if  they  regained  nothing,  they  would 
prevent  what  they  deemed  further  ag 
gressions. 

Possibly  the  invasion  of  Virginia,  un 
der  the  circumstances,  may  have  been 
employed  by  southern  demagogues  as  an 
instrumentality  to  further  inflame  the 
southern  heart;  but  this  was  never  their 
pretext  in  a  single  State  paper.  They 
complained  of  the  disregard  of  solemn 
covenants,  on  the  part  of  the  North ;  of 
continued  interference,  both  in  Congress 
and  out  of  it,  with  their  peculiar  insti 
tutions  ;  they  said  that  legislation  had  pro 
hibited  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  in  violation  of  good  faith ;  that  the 
fugitive  slave  law  was  a  dead  letter  on 
the  statute  books;  that  their  rights  were 
everywhere  disregarded. 

The  faithful  historian  has  at  all  times 
stated  the  fact,  that  the  contest  between 
freedom  and  slavery  in  Kansas,  inaugur 
ated  the  rebellion,  and  ultimated  in  the 
freedom  of  a  continent.  The  other  alle 
gation  is  the  product  of  such  minds  as 


HEiMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


G) 


James  Redpath  and  his  congeries  of 
Northern  disunionists,  who,  like  the  fly 
on  the  driving  wheel  of  a  locomotive 
pompously  exclaimed,  "Look  and  see 
what  a  vast  train  I  am  moving !" 

HERO  WORSHIP. 

'  W  »e  to  that  man  who  does  not  rever 
ence  the  gods  we  set  up."  It  is  no  less 
true  to-day  than  in  the  days  of  Nebu 
chadnezzar.  The  fiery  furnace  of  public 
opinion  is  ever  burning,  and  ever  ready 
to  consume  those  who  will  not  obey  the 
popular  mandate.  "Away  with  him, 
crucify  him,"  is  heard  on  every  hand, 
through  every  age,  directed  against  all 
bold  enough  to  have  and  express  an  hon 
es  thought. 

When  the  Egyptian  god  Serapis  was 
destroyed,  in  the  year  385,  by  the  order 
of  Theodosius,  at  the  instance  of  the 
Christian  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  the 
remaining  350,000  volumes  of  the  great 
Alexandrian  library  was  burned,  with  the 
temple,  the  people  looking  on  were  hor 
rified  beyond  expression.  They  had 
been  taught  that  Serapis  caused  the  Nile 
to  overflow  and  fertilize  the  country. 
They  thought,  following  this  indignity 
to  their  god,  and  the  desecration  of  his 
temple,  the  great  river  would  cease  to 
give  its  annual  tribute  to  the  soil;  that 
productive  harvests  would  cease;  and 
starvation  follow.  No  terms  were  suffi 
ciently  expressive  with  which  to  denounce 
the  authors  of  their  sorrow.  They  were 
sincere  in  their  denunciations,  and  really 
believed  the  threats  of  their  priests  would 
bo  executed  to  the  letter. 

The  seasons  rolled  on;  the  waters  came 
down  from  the  mountains  at  their  accus 
tomed  time,  and  brought  the  usual  fer 
tilizing  productions;  the  valley  of  the 
Nile  was  clothed  with  beauty  and  ver 
dure.  Though  Serapis  was  dead  the  gold 
en  harvests  were  as  luxuriant  as  ever. 
Thft  pc'ople  were  fed.  Peace  and  pros 
per  it  v  reigned.  Soon  the  deluded  devo 


tee  saw  that  his  imagined  deity  had  ot 
the  power  to  interrupt  the  great  processes 
of  Nature,  and  his  name  was  no  longer 
revered. 

It  is  so  with  regard  to  all  heroes.  y  They 
are  the  idols  of  the  age  in  which  '  hey 
live,  and  are  worshipped  as  such.  Stat 
ues  are  erected  to  their  memory  when 
dead.  Costly  monuments  adorn  their 
resting  places;  and  lying  epitaphs  perpet 
uate  the  popular  applause.  Another  gen 
eration  goes  by.  Cool  reflection  takes 
the  place  of  the  frenzied  hour;  histories 
are  ransacked ;  the  truth  is  learned;  the 
hero  of  yesterday  is  forgotten  to-day; 
and,  like  Marat  in  French  history,  his 
bones  are  removed  from  their  resting 
place  by  the  side  of  kings;  his  portraits 
are  torn  down  and  trampled  upon;  his 
mausoleum  is  demolished;  and  fragments 
of  his  costly  monument  are  all  that  re 
main  of  him  whom  a  "  grateful  nation  " 
so  highly  idolized  as  to  vote  a  pension 

for  life  to  his  concubine. 

^%- 

CONCLUSION. 

I  knew  full  well  that  the  task  I  at 
tempted — to  correct  the  false  in  history 
— was  an  unpopular  one.  I  was  aware, 
before  a  single  line  was  written,  that 
popular  prejudice  had  enshrined  a  hero, 
and,  as  in  classic  story,  his  devotees  were 
"  filling  the  air  with  hideous  shrieks  and 
shouts,  and  crying  aloud,  'Great  is 
Bacchus!'"  Occupying  too  humble  a 
position  to  feel  the  shock  of  their  blows, 
and  too  strong  in  the  rectitude  of  my  in 
tentions  to  be  diverted  from  my  purpose ; 
fully  conscious  of  my  inability  to  do 
justice  to  what  I  had  undertaken,  I  have 
continued  TO  THE  END,  content  to  leave 
to  the  conscientious  and  unprejudiced 
reader,  and  to  future  times,  the  rendition 
of  their  verdict,  Whether  I  have  contrib 
uted  any  what  of  facts  to  aid  in  placing 
in  his  true  position,  in  American  history, 
the  Guerilla  Chieftain  and  Visionary  En- 


66 


REMINISCENCES  OP  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


thusiast,  the  'gallant  and  intrepid'  OLD 
JOHN  BROWN? 

As  the  earth  from  a  fiery  beginning, 
with  convulsions  of  a  most  gigantic  char 
acter;  the  incessant  roar  of  contending 
elements;  upheavals  and  depressions; 
volcanic  eruptions  and  rivers  of  molten 
rock,  and  showers  of  scoriae  and  ashes; 
geysers,  everywhere  sending  up  floods  of 
boiling  water,  dissolving  into  vapor,  and 
descending  in  torrents,  falling  on  heated 
rock  to  again  ascend  as  steam,  forming 
clouds  which  obscured  for  ages  sun  and 
stars ;  lightnings  ever  flashing  along  the 
sky,  with  crash  on  crash  of  deafening 
thunders;  earthquakes  rending  the  globe, 
and  upheaving  mountains  and  depressing 
valleys;  all  nature  everywhere  discord 
ant;  hurricanes  and  cyclones  ever  active; 
— thence  change  following  change  in 
gradual  succession  from  age  to  age,  until 
the  present  delightful  era,  when  the  earth 
is  clothed  with  beauty,  adorned  with 
verdure,  and  animal  life  fills  up  the 
waste  places,  and  man  appears  to 


crown  the  whole  with  wisdom  and 
joy; — so  we  have  seen  Kansas,  torn  and 
convulsed  by  contending  factions;  neigh 
bor  warring  with  neighbor;  Anarchy  and 
Discord  sweeping  over  the  land, amid  pil 
laged  homes,  burning  dwellings,scattered 
families,  death  and  mutilation,  grim- 
visaged  famine,  desolating  pestilence, 
conflagrations,  and  all  the  multitudinous 
ills  that  humanity  is  subject  to ; — thence 
tranquility,  and  order,  and  beaming 
peace;  labor  largely  rewarded,  and  pros 
perity  attendant  upon  every  enterprise; 
commerce  spreading  her  whitened  sales; 
the  school  room  showering  intelligence 
upon  her  youth;  joyous  homes  every 
where  springing  up,  while  Contentment 
is  smiling  at  every  door,  as  we  find  it  to 
day;  and,  bending  in  silent  but  humble 
adoration,  before  that  Wisdom  which 
crowns  all  with  peace  and  happiness,  we 
bid  the  reader,  for  the  present,  a  cheerful 

FAREWELL ! 

THE   END. 


APPENDIX. 


The  admirers  of  old  John  Brown  must 
desire  the  possession  of  every  important 
fact  that  throws  light  upon  his  history 
While  the  proceeding  sketches  were  pas 
sing  through  the  Kansas  press  a  vast 
amount  of  new  information,  heretofore 
concealed  in  the  breasts  of  interested 
partisan  friends,  have  come  to  light. 
Such  as  has  fallen  under  the  observation 
of  the  writer,  I  propose  to  add  in  this 
Appendix,  and  shall  conclude  with  a 
Review,  from  Hon.  Eli  Thayer,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  which  will  only  appear  in  the 
pamphlet. 

VALUABLE  CORRESPONDENCE. 
WORCESTER,  Mass.,  Dec.  10,  1879. 

DR.  G.  W.  BROWN  : — I  have  received, 
and  read  with  the  greatest  interest, 
your  "Reminiscences  of  old  John  Brown.'1 
I  earnestly  hope  you  will  continue  these 
papers  until  they  embrace  all  the  impor 
tant  facts  of  the  early  Kansas  history. 

I  inclose  herewith  a  letter  which  I  re 
ceived  last  summer  from  Hon.  Geo.  A. 
Crawford,  of  Fort  Scott,  Kansas,  in  rela 
tion  to  John  Brown's  Pottawotomie 
Massacre,  and  his  raid  into  Missouri, 
which  I  think  may  be  of  use  to  you,  and 
which  I  would  like  to  have  preserved  in 
the  Kansas  Historical  Society. 

I  am  confident  that  Mr.  Crawford  will 
not  object  to  its  publication.  Mr.  C.,  in 
advising  John  Brown  to  leave  the  Terri 


tory,  in  my  opinion,  gave  expreesion  to 
the  general  desire  of  the  men  who  made 
Kansas  a  Free  State.  *  *  ^/ 

Thanking  you  sincerely  for  the  great 
work  you  are  doing  for  the  truth  of  hia- 
tory,  I  remain,  very  truly  yours, 

ELI  THAYER. 


FORT  SCOTT,  Kan.,  Aug.  4, 1879. 
HON.  ELI  THAYER,  WoRcester,  Mass. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :— Yours  of  the  28th  ult. 
received  asking  for  facts  in  my  posses 
sion  in  regard  to  John  Brown's  participa* 
tion  in  what  is  known  as  the  Pottawato- 
niie  massacre,  and  the  raid  into  Missouri. 

In  reply  I  would  state  that  I  was  in 
John  Brown's  camp,  at  the  Trading  Post, 
in  Linn  county,  Kansas,  early  in  .January, 
'1859,  and  had  conversations  with  him  in 
regard  to  both  transactions.  ^ 

As  to  the  "Massacre"  he  said  ht>  would 
not  say  that  he  was  not  engaged  in  it, 
but  he  would  say  that  he  advised  it,  and 
justified  it,  and  was  willing  to  take  a  full 
share  of  the  responsibility  of  it.  He 
said  that  the  death  of  those  pro-slavery 
men  had  been  determined  upon,  at  a 
meeting  of  free  state  settlers  the  day  be 
fore;  that  he  was  present  at  that  meeting, 
and,  I  think,  presided,  and  that  the  ex 
ecutioners  were  then  and  there  appointed. 
He  said  he  would  not  say  that  he  was 
one  of  them,  but  he  would  say  that  if  it 
was  wrong  he  was  as  much  to  blame  as 
any. 

He  gave  as  a  reason  for  the  deed  that 
the  men  were  carriers  of  news  to  the  Missou- 
rians,  that  they  kept  a  "grape  vine  tele 
graph"  with  Missourians,  and  were  eudan- 


APPENDIX. 


geriDg  the  settlements,  by  bringing  in 
the  invaders.  He  said  it  became  neces 
sary  to  make  an  example,  and  so  strike 
terror,  and  put  an  end  to  that  sort  of 
thing. 

As  to  the  raid  into  Missouri — it  was 
made  on  the  20th  Dec.  1858,  four  days 
after  the  raid  into  Fort  Scott.  It  was  led 
by  Capt.  Brown  in  person.  Capt.  Mont 
gomery  refused  to  go  along — protested , 
as  I  have  understood,  against  it, — but 
came  to  the  aid  of  the  Kansas  settlers 
when  retaliatory  raids  were  afterwards 
expected.  The  Captain's  Company 
marched  down  the  Little  Osage  River,  in 
the  north  part  ot  this  county,  and  about 
12  miles  from  here,  and  proceeded  into 
Vernon  Co.,  Mo.,  a  distance  of  three  or 
four  miles. 

The  Missouri  Democrat,  of  Dec.  30th, 
1858,  gave  the  Missouri  statement  of  the 
losses.  I  presume  it  is  correct.  Files 
of  other  papers  of  the  period  would 
show.  It  states  that  they  "murdered" 
David  Crews,  (or  Cruise,)  "kidnapped  a 
negro  woman,"  took  wagon,  horses  &c., 
and  robbed  Mr.  Martin  and  family  of  a 
fine  mule;  took  irom  the  estate  of  James 
Lawrence,  in  possession  of  his  son-in-law 
Henry  Hicklin,  five  negroes,  2  horses,  1 
yoke  of  cattle,  an  ox-wagon,  a  double 
barrel  shot  gun,  saddle  and  clothing. 
From  Isaac  B.  LaRue,  five  negroes,  six 
Corses,  1  yoke  of  cattle,  clothing — and 
took  prisoners  whom  they  released. 

Jn  the  conversation  to  which  I  have 
atluded,  Captain  Brown  said  he  had 
sent  the  slaves  on  to  their  freedom;  that 
they  had  earned  the  property  of  their 
masters;  and  that  his  young  men  were 
entitled  to  forage  to  the  extent  of  their 
subsistence.  He  denied  the  current  ru 
mor  that  the  slaves  had  been  taken  away 
by  violence  and  against  their  will. 

As  to  the  killing  of  Cruise,  he  said 
that  he  had  given  strict  orders  for  the 
careful  use  of  the  guns;  and  that  there 
should  be  no  firing  unless  resistance  was 
offered.  He  had  divided  his  men  into 
two  squads,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
stream.  In  the  house  of  Cruise  one  of 
his  quick-blooded  young  men,  supposing 
that  Cruise  was  about  to  draw  a  weapon, 
had  fired,  killing  him  instantly.  I  infer 
red  that  the  Captain  was  not  present. 
He  claimed  to  have  reprimanded  the 
young  man  for  his  haste. 

Cruise  was  a  good  citizen — a  plain  un 


offending  farmer.  It  was  reported  that 
he  had  no  weapons  on  his  person.  The 
killing  of  him  was  an  unjustifiable  out 
rage,  and  it  subjected  our  settlements  to 
great  danger  from  retaliatory  measures. 

I  protested  to  the  Captain  against  this 
violence.  We  were  settlers,  he  was  not. 
He  could  strike  a  blow  and  leave.  The 
retaliatory  blow  would  fall  on  us.  Being 
a  free-state  man,  I  myself,  was  held  per 
sonally  responsible  by  pro-slavery  ruf 
fians  in  Ft.  Scott,  for  the  acts  of  Capt. 
Brown. 

One  of  these  ruffians,  Brockett,  when 
they  gave  me  notice  to  leave  the  town 
said :  "  When  a  snake  bites  me  I  don't  go 
hunting  for  that  particular  snake.  I  kill 
the  first  snake  I  come  to." 

I  called  Capt.  Brown's  attention  to  the 
facts  that  we  were  at  peace  with  Missouri ; 
that  our  Legislature  was  then  in  the 
hands  of  Free-State  men,  to  make  the 
laws;  that  even  in  our  disturbed  counties 
of  Bourbon  and  Linn  we  were  in  a  ma 
jority,  and  had  elected  the  officers  both 
to  make  and  execute  the  laws;  that  with 
out  peace  we  could  have  no  immigration; 
that  no  southern  immigration  was  com 
ing;  that  agitation,  such  as  his,  was  only 
keeping  our  northern  friends  away,  &c. 

The  old  man  replied  that  it  was  no 
pleasure  to  him — an  old  man — to  be  liv 
ing  in  the  saddle,  away  from  home  and 
family,  and  exposing  his  life;  and  if  the 
free-state  men  of  Kansas  felt  that  they  no 
longer  needed  him  he  would  be  glad  to 
go. 

He  seemed  very  erratic — at  war  with 
all  our  accustomed  ideas  on  the  slavery 
question — but  very  earnest. 

I  think  the  conversation  made  an  im 
pression  on  him,  for  he  soon  after  went 
to  his  self-sacrifice  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

Yours,  GEO.  A.  CRAWFORD. 

THE  POTAWATOMIE  TRAGEDY-COL.  BLOOD'S 
RECOLLECTION. 

ROCKFORD,  111.,  Nov.  19,  1879. 
JAS.  BLOOD,  ESQ. 

My  Dear  Sir:—  Yours  of  the  16th  is  at 
hand,  and  I  hasten  to  reply. 

Twenty  years  ago  I  made  a  statement 
of  the  Potawatomie  massacre  in  the  Her 
ald  of  Freedom.  After  writing  it,  but  be 
fore  passing  to  the  compositors,  I  chanc 
ed  to  meet  a  gentleman  to  whom  I  allud 
ed  in  my  recent  statement.  He  suggest 
ed  several  corrections,  which  were  made 
in  his  presence,  and  re-read  to  him ; 


APPENDIX. 


when  he  said  the  statement,  as  amended, 
was  correct,  and  he  would  make  affidavit 
to  it,  if  the  truth  should  ever  be  called 
in  question.  He  further  made  the  addi 
tional  statements  at  the  time  which  I 
have  added.  I  asked  leave  to  refer  to 
him  then.  He  declined,  saying  he  did 
not  wish  to  be  mixed  up  in  the  matter, 
but  sometime  he  would  take  pleasure  in 
stating  all  his  knowledge  on  the  subject. 
I  did  think  of  sending  him  the  state 
ment  for  his  indorsement  before  publish 
ing  at  this  time;  but  was  so  sure  that  my 
memory  served  me  correctly,  and  had 
such  confidence  in  his  statement,  that,  in 
the  hurry,  with  the  length  ol  time  that 
must  intervene  between  writing  and  pub 
lication,  I  gave  it  to  the  printers  with 
out  consultation  with  him. 

In  all  cases  where  possible  I  have  given 
the  names  of  living  witnesses  and  wish  I 
could  do  so  in  every  instance. 

I  think  you  will  excuse  me  for  not 
giving  at  present  the  name  you  request, 
but  I  will  take  great  pleasure  in  correct 
ing,  at  the  close  of  the  series  of  articles, 
•which  is  now  near  at  hand,  any  errors 
which  I  have  been  led  into  by  misstate- 
nicnts  of  others,  or  defective  memory,  as 
it  is  my  desire  that  the  truth,  and  the 
truth  only,  be  stated  in  the  premises. 

The  whole  matter  is  being  stereotyped 
as  we  advance,  and  it  is  expected  that 
the  edition,  in  pamphlet  or  book  form, 
will  be  large;  hence  I  ask  it  as  a  favor 
to  the  public  and  to  another  generation, 
for  whom  I  principally  write,  that  every 
error  be  corrected  in  the  same  volume  in 
which  the  original  statement  is  made. 

I  am  satisfied  that  you  are  in  posses 
sion  of  valuable  facts  in  the  matter.  I 
have  always  known  you  as  a  gentleman 
of  the  strictest  truth ;  your  opportunities 
of  observation,  through  all  these  times, 
were  large;  neither  of  us  have  anything 
to  gain  by  concealment,  or  to  lose  by  the 
fullest  exposure.  Those  who  come  after 
us  have  a  right  to  be  fully  informed  of 
the  times  in  which  we  lived;  therefore  I 
again  ask  you  to  give  me  a  full  and 
frank  statement  of  the  facts,  without  any 
reflections  on  anybody,  and  it  shall  have 
as  wide  circulation  as  the  original  state 
ment. 

Thanking  you  for  your  kindness  in 
writing  me,  and  wishing  that  any  and  all 
other  persons  having  knowledge  on  this 
subject  would  be  equally  frank,  and 


write  me  direct,  to  the  end  that  I  may.  in 
my  closing  articles,  make  the  proper  cor- 
rtxtions,  I  am,  with  pleasant  old-time 
memories,  Very  truly  yours, 

G.  W.  BROWN. 


COLONEL  BLOOD'S  REPLY.  \ 

LAWRENCE,  Kan.,  Nov.  29.  1879.  ' 
G.  W.  BROWN,  M.  D.,  ROCKFORD,  111. — 
Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  19th  inst.,  was 
duly  received,  but  I  have  hesitated  to 
comply  with  your  request  to  write  for 
publication  a  statement  of  what  I  know 
about  the  "Potawatomie  massacre,"  in 
1856.  I  was  not  "an  eye  witness,"  but 
have  concluded  to  make  a  statement  of 
incidents  that  came  within  my  observa 
tion,  as  I  recollect  them. 

In  the  spring  of  1856,  I  went  east  on 
business,  leaving  my  family  in  Lawrence. 
I  was  in  New  Hampshire,  when  I 
learned  that  the  border  ruffians  were 
gathering,  under  ruffianly  federal  officers,, 
to  destroy  Lawrence.  I  immediately 
started  for  home,  arriving  at  Kansas  Cityr 
I  think,  on  the  21st  day  of  May,  1856.  I 
could  find  no  way  of  getting  to  Lawrence, 
direct,  but  hired  a  close  hack  to  take  mer 
with  two  or  three  friends  (one  of  them 
was  J.  F.  Bliss,  now  residing  at  Oskaloo- 
Ba,)  to  Ossawatomie.  We  instructed  the 
driver  to  say  to  any  one  who  might  halt 
us,  that  he  was  taking  some  men  to 
Pleasant  Hill,  Missouri.  We  drove  south 
through  Westport,  and  the  parties  halt 
ing  us  appeared  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
reply  of  the  driver.  We  stayed  that 
night  at  a  farm  house  in  Missouri,  a  short 
distance  south  of  Westport.  The  next 
day,  the  22nd,  we  took  dinner  with  Bap- 
tiste  Peoria,  where  Paola  now  stands, 
and  arrived  at  Osawatomie  in  the  after 
noon.  From  there  we  sent  the  hack 
back  to  Kansas  City. 

The  next  morning  I  bought  a  horse  of 
O.  C.  Brown— who  will  be  remembered 
by  the  old  settlers  as  the  original  Osa 
watomie  Brown.  After  having  the  horse 
shod,  I  started  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
23rd  of  May,  from  Osawatomie  for  Law 
rence,  by  way  of  Ottawa  Jones'  and  Pal 
myra. 

I  was  informed  while  at  Osawatomie 
that  the  active  pro-slavery  men  of  that 
part  of  the  Territory  had  gone  to  Le- 
compton  to  join  the  border  ruffians  in 
their  attack  upon  Lawrence,  and  that 
most  of  the  Free  State  men  had  gone, 


70 


APPENDIX. 


ui.uer  the  load  of  Capt.  John  Brown,  Jr., 
!•>  tid  in  the  defence  oi  Lawrence, 

It  was  nearly  sun-down  that  afternoon 
when,  between  Potawatomie  Creek  and 
Middle  Creek,  and  but  a  few  miles 
fiom  the  Doyle  settlement,  I  saw  a  party 
of  men  coming  fron  the  west  and  going 
toward  Potawatomie  Creek.  As  we  ap 
proached  each  other  I  could  see  the 
gleam  of  the  sun's  rays  reflected  from  the 
moving  gun-barrels  of  the  party,  in  a 
wagon.  When  within  perhaps  100  yards 
they  stoppt  d,  and  a  man  rose  up  i*n  the 
wai^on  and  cried,  halt!  I  immediately 
recognized  old  John  Brown,  and  stated 
who  I  was,  calling  him  by  name.  I  was 
then  allowed  to  approach  the  party. 
'1  here  were  in  the  wagon  John  Brown, 
and,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  four 
of  his  sons,  his  son-in-law,  and  a  man 
driving  the  team,  whom  I  did  not  know, 
making  seven  in  the  wagon.  There  was 
also  a  man  on  horseback,  I  think  his 
name  was  Wymer,  or  Winer. 

The  party  all  appeared  to  be  fully  arm 
ed  with  rifles,  revolvers,  knives  or  swords. 
I  think  some  of  them  at  least  had  a  pecu 
liar  instrument,  something  like  a  Scotch 
claymore,  or  a  short,  very  heavy  broad 
sword.  John  Brown  had  presented  me 
with  one  of  the  same  kind,  while  at  Law 
rence,  during  the  Wakarusa  war,  iu  the 
fall  of  1855. 

I  talked  with  the  old  man  for  some 
time.  I  believe  he  was  the  only  one  of 
the  party  who  spoke.  He  stated  that 
they  had  left  Capt.  John*Brown  Jr., with 
the  Potawatomie  company,  in  camp  near 
Palmyra.  He  informed  me  that  Law 
rence  had  been  sacked  and  burned,  and 
that  a  number  of  leading  Free  State  men 
had  been  taken  prisoners.  He  seemed 
very  indignant  that  there  had  been  no 
resistance;  that  Lawrence  was  not  de 
fended  ;  and  denounced  the  members  of 
the  committee  and  leading  Free  State 
men  as  cowards,  or  worse.  His  manner 
was  wild  and  frenzied,  and  the  whole 
party  watched  with  excited  eagerness 
every  word  and  motion  of  the  o!d  man. 
Finally,  as  I  left  them,  he  requested  me 
not  to  mention  the  fact  that  I  had  met 
them,  as  they  were  on  a  secret  expedition, 
and  did  not  want  any  one  to  know  that 
they  were  in  that  neighborhood. 

I  came  on,  and  when  I  arrived  at  Mid 
dle  Creek  it  was  dark, — so  dark  that  im 
mediately  after  crossing  the  creek  I  lost 
the  road,  and  after  riding  some  time  re 
turned  to  the  crossing,  where  I  found  the 


road  and  arrived  at  Jones1  late  in  the 
night. 

The  next  morning,  the"1 24th,  I  again 
started  for  Lawrence.  When  .  I  arrived 
at  Palmyra,  I  f nmd  the  Potawatomie 
company,  with  one  or  two  other  com 
panies  of  Free  State  men,  and  there 
learned  that  Capt.  John  Brown,  Jr.,  had 
gone  to  Lawrence  to  learn  the  condition 
of  things  there. 

I  rode  on  toward  Lawrence,  and  met 
Capt.  Brown,  Jr.,  south  of  Wakarusa. 
From  him  I  obtained  the  first  reliable  in 
formation  as  to  what  had  taken  place  at 
Lawrence.  He  appeared  to  be  in  good 
spirits  and  perfectly  rational. 

When  a  day  or  two  later  we  heard  of 
the  massacre  of  the  Doyles,Wilkinson,and 
Sherman,  on  the  Potawatomie,  on  the 
night  ol  the  23d,  I  could  have  no  doubt 
as  to  who  committed  the  deed.  I  could 
not  resist  the  conviction  that  it  was  done 
with  those  Scotch  claymores.  I  remem 
bered  the  wild  frenzied  look  and  appear 
ance  of  old  John  Brown  and  his  party, 
when  I  met  them  near  the  Potawato 
mie  settlement,  on  that  evening,and  only 
a  few  hours  before  those  men  were  kil 
led. 

I  believe  the  Free  State  men  here  re 
garded  this  horrible  tragedy  with  more 
sincere  and  sorrowful  regret  than  any 
other  incident  of  our  struggle.  It  was 
regarded  as  terribly  damaging  to  the 
Free  State  party  and  cause.  No  suffi 
cient  justification  or  defence  could  be 
made. 

I  sincerely  believed  that  it  was  the 
work  of  insane  men.  Their  halting  at 
that  distance  a  solitary  traveler,  who 
was  apparently  unarmed,  and  upon  the 
open  prairie  where  they  dould  see  for 
miles  around,  seemed  to  me  evidence  of 
insanity.  Certainly  that  number  of  so 
well-armed  men  could  not  fear  an  as 
sault  and  capture,  or  that  they  were  in 
any  immediate  danger.  I  noticed  that 
while  we  were  in  conversation  the  boys 
watched  every  look  and  gesture  of  the 
old  man — keeping  their  guns  in  their 
hands  ready  for  instant  action. 

A  short  time  after  the  Potawatomie 
massacre  I  had  a  conversation  with 
George  Partridge,  an  old  acquaintance 
and  friend  of  mine  from  Wisconsin,  who 
was  then  a  settler  on  the  Potawatomie. 
He  was  a  strong  anti-slavery  man,  and 
was  killed  later  that  summer  in  the  fight 
at  Osawatomie. 

Mr.  Partridge  informed  me  that  he  was 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


71 


a  member  of  Capt.  John  Brown,  Jr's. 
company,  and  was  with  them  on  their 
expedition  to  Palmyra,  in  May.  He 
stated  that  old  John  Brown  became  fren 
zied  at  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
Territory,  and  the  refusal  or  failure  of 
Free  State  men  to  fight;  that  the  old  man 
left  the  company,  on  the  23rd,  with  six  or 
seven  others,  and  against  the  remon 
strance  of  his  son,  Capt.  John  Brown,  Jr.; 
that  when,  on  the  afternoon  and  evening 
of  the  24th,  while  in  camp  at  Ottawa 
Jones',uews  was  received  of  the  massacre, 
Captain  Brown,  Jr.,  became  insane,  and 
w  is  taken  home  the  next  day  a  maniac. 

Mr.  Partridge  also  stated  that  the 
only  provocation  the  Doyles  had  given; 
as  tar  as  he  knew,  was,  that  at  the  spring 
election,  a  short  time  before,  Doyle  ex 
pressed  his  dislike  for  negroes  and  abol  - 
tionistx,  and  that  Brown  expressed  his 
dislike  of  pro- slavery  men.  He  said  that 
denunciations  and  threats  were  made  on 
both  sides.  * 

In  the  foregoing  I  have  stated  the 
incidents  as  I  recollect  them.  Mr.  Part 
ridge  had  no  doubt  that  the  killing  was 
done  by  old  John  Brown  and  his  party, 
and  sincerely  regretted  the  affair. 

I  believe  that  when  we  heard  here  of 
the  Potawatomie  massacre  Col.  Samuel 
Walker  was  sent  down  there  by  the  com 
mittee  (of  which  Gen.  Babcock  was 
chairman,)  to  learn  all  the  facts  in  rela 
tion  to  the  matter.  Perhaps  Color  ei 
Walker  or  Gen.  Babcock  could  furnish 
some  information  on  the  subject. 

Respectfully,  J.  BLOOD. 

*  Of  all  the  fifteen  or  over  different  motives  given  for 
this  terrible  massacre,  including  that  by  Capt.  Brown 
himself,  to  Gov.  Crawford,  this,  by  Mr.  Partridge,  to 
Col.  Blood,  seems  the  most  plausible. — BROWN. 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  GRANTS. 

Geo.  W.  Grant,  a  son  of  John  T.  Grant, 
mentioned  by  Johnson  Clark,  in  an  arti 
cle  headed  "CLINCHER,"  made  a  state 
ment  to  the  Lawrence  Journal  a  few 
weeks  ago,  the  greater  substance  of 
which  is  given  below,  from  that  paper, 
as  follows: 

"We  were  near  neighbors  of  the  Sher 
mans,  of  the  Doyles,  and  Wilkinson. 

"When  the  news  came  that  the  Border 
Ruffians  were  about  to  attack  Lawrence, 
the  Free  State  men  of  Potawatomie 
Creek  raised  a  company  to  go  to  the 
rescue.  It  was  under  command  of  Capt. 
John  Brown,  Jr.  I  was  a  member  of  the 
company.  We  started  for  Lawrence, 
but  on  the  wav  there  a  messenger  reach 


ed  us  saying  it  was  too  late;  that  the 
town  was  already  sacked.  While  lying 
in  camp  the  company  was  drawn  up  one 
day,  and  old  John  Brown  called  for  vol 
unteers,  saying :  "flow  many  men  will  vol 
unteer  to  go  with  me  and  obey  my  orders?'1 
When  he  calhd  for  volunteers  J"hn 
Brown,  Jr.,  said:  "Father,  I  ol>jeci  to  any 
of  the  men  leaving.  We  are  getting  up 
near  the  enemy  and  may  need  them." 
Alter  the  number  had  volunteered  John 
Brown,  Jr.,  said,  "Father,  be  careful  and 
commit  no  rash  act."  The  volunteers 
were  Fred,  Owen,  Salmon  and  Oliver 
Brown,  Thompson,  John  Brown's  son-in- 
law,  Mr.  Winer,  and  Mr.  Townsley,  with 
his  team.  After  they  had  volunteered 
they  went  into  camp  by  themselves,  and 
ground  up  their  sabres.  They  were  armed 
with  short  swords  or  sabres. 

"When  we  were  at  Ottawa  Jones',  the 
Brown  party  came  in  during  the  night. 
The  next  morning  I  saw  one  of  Dutch 
Henry's  horses,  which  they  had  brought 
in.  It  was  a  gray  horse,  with  mane  and 
tail  sheared.  We  had  heard  of  the  kil 
ling  on  Pottawatomie  Creek,  at  Palmyra, 
and  had  returned. 

"The  effect  of  the  news  of  the  massa 
cre  on  John  Brown,  Jr.,  was  very  marked. 
He  showed  great  agitation,  and  gave  up 
the  command  of  the  company  to  H.  II. 
Williams." 

[Then  follows  a  long  account  of  the 
provocation  for  the  massucre.  As  we 
have  at  least  fifteen  different  reasons 
given,  one  by  Capt.  Brown  himself  to 
Gov.  Crawford,  we  will  not  tax  the  read 
er  with  any  additional  ones.] 

"They  were  apparently  killed  by  a 
thrust  with  the  short  sword,  and  by  cuts 
over  the  head  with  the  sabre,  except 
Doyle,  who  was  shot  in  the  forehead,  and 
also  stabbed.  There  was  no  idea  at  that 
time  that  the  bodies  had  been  purposely 
mutilated.  The  wounds  in  the  hands 
had  apparently  been  made  either  in  at 
tempting  to  ward  off  blows,  or  in  grasp 
ing  the  blades  of  the  short  swords. 

Mrs.  Wilkinson's  description  of  the 
leader  pointed  out  Brown  as  present  at 
th.3  killing.  She  mentioned  his  being  an 
old  man,  and  his  wearing  a  black  stock 
about  his  neck,  which  Brown  habitually 
wore.  Nobody  ori,  the  creek  doubted  that 
John  Brown  was  the  leader  of  the  party. 
As  to  the  killing,  it  was  the  current  story 
that  Brown  shot  Doyle,  but  personally 
did  nothing  more,  and  that  the  cutting 


72 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


and  stabbing  was  done  by  other  members 
of  the  party. 

The  effect  of  this  massacre  on  the  in 
habitants  of  the  creek,  was  to  greatly 
alarm  both  parties.  The  pro-slavery  set 
tlers  almost  entirely  left  at  once  and  the 
Free  State  people  were  constantly  fearful 
of  vengeance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
was  no  more  killing  on  either  side  in 
that  neighborhood.  Dutch  Henry — 
Henry  Sherman,  was  killed  in  the  spring 
of  1857,  but  politics  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it." 

To  this  statement,  in  the  Journal  of 
Dec.  llth,  1879,  is  affixed  the  signatures 
of  Geo.  W.  &  H.  C.  Grant. 

The  following  appeared  as  an  editorial 
in  the  Lawrence,  Kan.  Standard^  of  Dec. 
llth,  1879: 

"WERE  THEY  MUTILATED?'' 

Mr.  Townsley,  in  his  statement  about 
the  Pottawatomie  massacre,  says  that 
the  bodies  of  the  Doyles  were  not  muti 
lated,  or  at  least  not  to  his  knowledge 
Mr.  Ely  Moore,  who  is  employed  in  the 
Standard  office,  says  that  he  arrived  at 
the  scene  of  the  murder  before  the  bodies 
were  cold,  that  the  ears  and  noses  of  old 
man  Doyle  and  one  of  his  sous  were  cut 
off',  and  that  old  man  Doyle  had  a  great 
gash  down  the  side  of  his  face,  cut  ap 
parently  with  a  sword  or  sabre.  John 
Brown's  pistol  ball  entered  just  over 
the  eye. 

MR.  TOWNSLEY'S  STATEMENT. 

The  statement  of  Mr,  Townsley,  given 
below,  was  procured  by  John  Hutchings, 
Esq.,  of  Lawrence,  Kansas,  referred  to  at 
the  close  of  my  article  headed  "Confirma 
tion."  In  answer  to  the  question,  "Who 
is  Mr.  Townsley?"  the  Laurence,  Kan, 
Journal  says : 

James  Townsley,  whose  statement  in 
regard  to  the  Potawatomie  affair  we 
publish  this  morning,  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  Anderson  county. 
In  Johnson's  history  of  that  county 
we  notice  that  he  was  one 
of  the  Commissioners  who  located  its  first 
county  seat,  at  a  place  called  Shannon, 
Marcli  1,  1856.  At  that  place  all  the 
county  business  was  transacted  until  April 
5,  1856.  He  was  also  one  of  the  Commis 
sioncrs  who  located  in  the  same  mouth 
the  first  road  in  the  county,  running 
from  Shermanville  f  Dutch  Henrv's  Cro^ 


sing]  through  the  county  seat  to  Hamp- 
den  and  Cofachique.  Alost,  if  not  all  of 
these  places  now  exist  only  in  history, 
and  it  is  said  that  only,  a  few 
persons  in  the  county  can  point 
out  the  place  even  where  the  first 
county  seat  stood.  Mr.  Townsley 's 
history,  however,  is  not  likely  to  be  so 
ephemeral.  The  closeness  of  his  relation 
to  the  hero  of  Harper's  Ferry  in  one  of 
the  most  striking  if  not  important  acts 
of  his  life,  will  be  likely  to  secure  for  his 
name  a  remembrance  not  soon  to  be  ex 
tinguished. 

I  am  a  native  of  Hartford  county,  state 
of  Maryland,  and  was  born  August  29, 
1815.  I  enlisted  in  company  I,  Capt. 
Benjamin  L.  Bell,  Second  United  States 
dragoons,  and  served  five  years  in  the 
war  waged  against  the  Seminole  and 
Creek  Indians,  a  part  of  the  time  under 
the  command  of  Gen.  Taylor,  and  was 
discharged  in  August.  1844,  at  Fort 
Washita,  Indian  territory.  I  am  a  pa* lit 
er  by  trade,  and  followed  that  business 
in  Fallston,  in  my  native  county,  until 
October  20,  1855,  when  I  emigrated  to 
Kansas  with  my  family,  and  settled  in 
Anderson  county,  on  the  Potawatomie 
creek,  about  one  mile  west  ot  Greeley, 
I  joined  the  Potawatomie  rifle  company 
at  its  re-organization  in  May,  1856,  at 
which  time  John  Brown,  Jr.,was  elected 
captain.  On  the  21st  of  the  same  month 
information  was  received  that  the  Geor 
gians  were  marching  on  Lawrence, 
threatning  its  destruction.  The  company 
was  immediately  called  together,  and 
about  4  o'clock  p.  m.  we  started  on  a 
forced  march  to  aid  in  its  defense. 
About  two  miles  south  of  Middle  Creek 
we  were  joined  by  the  Osawatomie  com 
pany,  under  Capt.  Dayton,  and  proceeded 
to  Mount  Veruou,  where  we  wait 
ed  about  two  hours,  until  the 
moon  rose.  We  then  marched  all  night, 
camping  the  next  morning,  the  22d,  for 
breakfast,  near  Ottawa  Jones'.  Before 
we  arrived  at  this  point  news  had  been 
received  that  Lawrence  had  been  des 
troyed,  and  a  question  was  raised  whether 
we  should  return  or  go  on.  During  the 
forenoon,  however,  we  proceeded  up  Ot 
tawa  creek  to  within  about  five  miles  of 
Palmyra,  and  went  into  camp  near  the 
residence  of  Captain  Shore.  Here  we 
remained  undecided  over  night.  About 
noon  the  next  day,  the  23d,  old  John 
Brown  came  to  me  and  said  he  had  just 
received  information  that  trouble  was  cx- 
DL-ctcd  on  tin*  Potawatnmin.  and  w:mtf><i 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


73 


to  know  if  I  would  take  my  team  and 
take  hi  in  and  his  boys  back  so  that  they 
could  keep  watch  of  what  was  going 
on.  I  told  him  I  would  do  so.  The 
party  consisting  of  old  John  Brown, Fred 
erick  Browu,Owen  Brown, Watson  Brown, 
Oliver  Brown,  Henry  Thompson  [John 
Brown's  son-in-law,]  and  Mr.  Winer, 
were  soon  ready  for  the  trip,  and  we 
started,  as  near  as  I  can  remember,  about 
2  o'clock  p.  m.  All  of  the  party,  except 
Mr.  Winer,  who  rode  a  pony,  rode  with 
me  in  my  wagon.  When  within  two  or 
three  miles  of  the  Potaw atomic  creek,  we 
turned  off  the  main  road  to  the  right, 
drove  down  to  to  the  edge  of  the  timber 
between  two  deep  ravines,  and  camped 
about  one  mile  above  Dutch  Henry't 
crossing. 

After  my  team  was  fed  and  the  party 
had  taken  supper,  John  Brown  told  me 
for  the  first  time  what  he  proposed  to  do. 
He  said  he  waited  me  to  pilot  the  com 
pany  up  to  the  forks  of  the  creek,  some 
five  or  six  miles  above,  into  the  neighbor 
hood  where  I  lived,  and  show  them 
where  all  the  pro-slavery  men 
resided ;  that  lie  proposed  to  sweep  the  creek 
as  he  came  down  of  all  the  pro-slavery  men 
living  on  it.  I  positively  refused  to  doit. 
He  insisted  upon  it,  but  when  he  found 
that  I  would  not  go  he  decided  to  post 
pone  the  expedition  until  the  following 
night.  I  then  wanted  to  take  my  team 
and  go  home,  but  he  would  not  let  me  do 
so,  and  said  I  should  remain  with  them. 
Wre  remained  in  camp  that  night  and  all 
day  the  next  day.  Sometime  after  dark 
we  were  ordered  to  march. 

We  started,  the  whole  company,  in  a 
northerly  direction,  crossing  Mosquito 
creek  above  the  residence  of  the  Doyles. 
Soon  after  crossing  the  creek  some  one  of 
the  party  knocked  at  the  door  of  a  cabin, 
but  received  no  reply — I  have  forgotten 
whose  cabin  it  was,  if  I  knew  at  the 
time.  The  next  place  we  came  to  was 
the  residence  of  the  Doyles.  John  Brown, 
three  of  his  sons  and  son-in-law  went  to 
the  door,  leaving  Frederick  Brown, Winer, 
and  myself  a  short  distance  from  the 
house.  About  this  time  a  large  dog  at 
tacked  us.  Frederick  Brown  struck  the 
dog  a  blow  with  his  short  two-edged 
sword,  after  which  I  dealt  him  a  blow 
with  my  sabre,  and  heard  no  more  of  him. 
The  old  man  Doyle  and  two  sons  were 
called  out  and  marched  some  distance 
from  the  house  toward  Dutch  Henry's  in 
the  road,  where  a  halt  was  made.  Old 
John  Brown  drew  his  revolver  and  shot  the 


old  man  Doyle  in  the  forehead,  and  Brown's 
two  youngest  sons  immediately  fell  upon 
the  younger  Doyles  with  their  short  two- 
edged  swords. 

One  of  the  young  Doyles  was  stricken 
down  in  an  instant,  but  the  other  at 
tempted  to  escape,  and  was  pursued  a 
short  distance  by  his  assailant  and  cut 
down.  The  company  then  proceeded 
down  Mosquito  creek  to  the  house  of 
Allen  Wilkinson.  Here  the  old  man 
Brown,  three  of  his  sons,  and  son-in-law, 
as  at  the  Doyle  residence,  went  to  the 
door  and  ordered  Wilkinson  to  come  out, 
leaving  Frederick  Brown,  Winer  and 
myself  standing  in  the  road  east  of  the 
house.  Wilkinson  was  taken  and  marched 
some  distance  south  of  his  house  and 
slain  in  the  road,  with  a  short  sword,  by 
one  of  che  younger  Browns.  After  he 
was  killed  his  body  was  dragged  out  to 
one  side  and  left. 

We  then  crossed  the  Potawatomie  and 
came  to  the  house  of  Henry  Sherman, 
generally  known  as  Dutch  Henry.  Here 
John  Brown  and  the  party,  excepting 
Frederick  Brown,  Winer,  and  myself, 
who  were  left  outside  a  short  distance 
from  the  door,  went  into  the  house  and 
'brought  out  one  or  two  persons  talked 
with  them  some,  and  then  took  them  in 
again.  They  afterward  brought  out 
William  Sherman,  Dutch  Henry's 
brother,  marched  him  down  into  the  Pot 
awatomie  creek,  where  he  was  slain  with 
swords  by  Brown's  two  youngest  sons, 
and  left  lyin?  in  the  creek. 

It  was  the  expressed  intention  of 
Brown  to  execute  Dutch  Henry  also,  but 
he  was  not  found  at  home.  He  also 
hoped  to  find  George  Wilson,  Probate 
Judge  of  Anderson  County,  there,  and 
intended,  if  he  did,  to  kill  him  too.  Wil 
son  had  been  notifying  Free  State  men  to 
leave  the  territory.  I  had  received  such 
a  notice  from  him  myself. 

I  desire  to  say  here  that  it  is  not  true 
that  there  was  any  intentional  mutilation 
of  the  bodies  after  they  were  killed. 
They  were  slain  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  left,  and  whatever  gashes  they  re 
ceived  were  inflicted  in  the  process  of 
cutting  them  down  with  swords.  I  un 
derstand  that  the  killing  was  done  with 
these  swords  so  as  to  avoid  alarming  the 
neighborhood  by  the  discharge  of  fire 
arms. 

I  desire  also  to  say  that  I  did  not  then 
approve  of  the  killing  of  those  men,  but 
Brown  said  it  must  be  done,  for  tie 
protection  of  the  Free  Slate  settlers;  th  it  it 


74 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


was  better  that  a  score  of  bad  men  should 
die  than  that  one  man  who  came  here  to 
make  Kansas  a  free  state  should  be  driven 
out 

Brown  wanted  me  to  pilot  the  party 
into  the  neighborhood  where  I  lived,  and 
point  out  all  the  pro-slavery  men  in  it, 
whom  he  proposed  to  put  to  death.  I  pos 
itively  refused  to  do  it,  and  on  account 
of  my  refusal  I  remained  in  camp  all  of 
the  night  upon  which  the  first  attack  was 
to  be  made,  and  the  next  day.  I  told 
him  I  was  willing  to  go  with  him  to  Le- 
compton  and  attack  the  leaders,  or  fight 
the  enemy  in  open  field  anywhere,  but  I 
did  not  want  to  engage  in  killing  these 
men.  That  night  and  the  acts  then  per 
petrated  are  vividly  fixed  in  my  memory, 
and  I  have  thought  of  them  many  times 
since. 

1  then  thought  that  the  transaction  was 
terrible,  and  have  mentioned  it  to  but 
few  persons  since.  In  after  time,  how 
ever,  I  became  satisfied  that  it  resulted 
in  good  to  the  Free  State  cause,  and  was 
especially  beneficial  to  the  Free  State 
settleis  on  Potawatomie  creek.  The  pro- 
slavery  men  were  dreadfully  terrified,  and 
large  numbers  of  them  soon  left  the  ter 
ritory.  It  was  afterward  said  that  one 
Free  State  man  could  scare  a  company  of 
them.  I  always  understood  that  Geo.W. 
Grant  came  to  our  camp  on  Ottawa  creek, 
near  Capt.  Shore's,  with  a  message  from 
his  father,  John  T.  Grant,  to  John  Brown, 
asking  for  protection  frotn  threatened  as 
saults  of  the  Shermans  and  other  pro- 
slavery  ruffians.  But  I  did  not  know 
Geo.  W.  Grant  at  the  time,  and  do  not 
remember  of  seeing  him.  I  frequently 
henrd  the  circumstance  mentioned  as  a 
fact.  After  the  killing  of  William  Sher 
man,  some  time  after  midnight,  we  all 
went  back  to  camp,  about  one  mile  dis 
tant,  where  we  had  left  my  team  and 
other  things.  We  remained  in  camp  until 
after  noon  of  the  following  day,  and  then 
started  to  join  the  Potawatomie  company 
under  John  Brown,  Jr.  When  we  reached 
Ottawa  Jones1  about  midnight,  we  found 
them  in  camp  at  that  place. 

The  next  morning  the  company  was 
called  together  just  after  breakfast, 
and  John  Brown.  Jr.,  announced  his  re 
signation,  and  requested  the  company  to 
elect  another  captain  in  his  place.  The 
name  of  II.  H.  Williams,  now  of  Osawa- 
tomie,  and  my  own  were  presented  and  a 
vote  taken  which  resulted  in  the  election 
of  Williams.  _  The  company  then  broke 
camp  and  started  for  home.  After  cross- 
in"  Middle  Creek  at  Mount  Voruon,  John 


Brown,  with  the  rest  of  the  party  who 
accompanied  him  on  the  Potawatomie 
expedition,  fell  back  from  the  balance  of 
the  company  and  struck  of  to  the  left  of 
the  main  Potawatomie  rc>d,  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  cabins  of  John  Brown,  Jr.,  and 
Jason  Brown.  Thaf  night  we  staid  at 
the  cabin  of  the  farmer,  keeping  up  a 
guard  all  night.  The  next  night  we  went 
to  Jason  Brown's,  about  one  mile  and  a 
half  away.  Here  we  remained  several 
days,  all  the  time  on  the  watch.  While 
we  remained  here  August  Bundy,  and  I 
think  Benjamin  L.  Cochran,  joined  us. 
After  several  days,  as  I  now  remember,  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Carpenter 
came  to  us  from  Prairie  City  and  gave 
the  information  that  Capt.  Pate  was  in 
the  vicinity  in  search  of  Brown.  That 
evening  we  all  took  horses  and  started 
for  Prairie  City,  where  we  arrived  next 
morning  about  daylight  and  camp<d  in 
the  timber  on  Ottawa  creek,  near  Capt. 
Shore's.  While  John  Brown  was  cooking 
breakfast  for  the  company,  James  Red - 
path  came  into  our  cam])  and  had  some 
conversation  with  Capt.  Brown. 

I  saw  Red  path  again  after  the  b  tttle 
of  Black  Jack,  near  BYe  Mound,  and  I 
desire  to  say  in  this  Connection,  that  I 
never  told  Redpatt  at  any  time  that  John 
Brown  was  not  present  at  the  Pcttawoto- 
mie  tragedy.  His  statement,  which  was 
read  to  me,  to  the  effect  that  utwo  squat 
ters,  who  aided  in  the  execution,"  gave 
him  such  information,  is  totally  false,  so 
far  as  I  am  concerned.  As  Winer  and 
myself  were  the  only  settlers  in  the 
neighborhood  not  members  of  Brown's 
family  who  were  present  at  the  tragedy, 
I  can  only  conclude  he  referred  to  us. 
In  the  afternoon,  after  we  camped  in  the 
woods  near  Capt.  Shore's,  we  moved  up  to 
Prairie  City.  We  picketed  out  our  horses 
and  laid  down  not  over  a  hundred  yards 
from  the  store.  About  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  six  of  Pate's  men  came  riding 
into  town,  four  of  whom  we  captured 
and  held  as  prisoners.  During  the  after 
noon  Capt.  Shore  raised  a  company  of 
about  thirty  men,  and  in  the  evening  we 
started  in  pursuit  of  I  ate.  The  next 
morning  before  daylighc  we  obtained  in 
formation  that  he  waj  camped  at  Black 
Jack  point,  and  wf;  moved  forward  with 
about  twenty-four  men  to  attack  him. 
When  within  a  mile  of  Pate's  forces  we 
all  dismounted,  lett  seven  men  in  charge 
of  the  horses,  and,  with  seventeen  men, 
made  the  attack.  In  about  fifteen^  nin- 
utcs  wo  drove  them  into  the  ravine.  The 
fight  continued  about  three  Imurb  when 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 


75 


Pate  surrendered.  About  the  time  we 
got  the  captured  arms  loaded  into  the 
wagons  ready  to  move,  Maj.  Abbott's 
company  came  up  and  we  all  marched 
back  to  Prairie  City  with  the  prisoners. 
Here  we  remained  until  Col.  Sumner  re 
leased  them. 

At  this  time  I  left  John  Brown,  and  in 
company  with  Charley  Lenhart  and 
many  other  Lawrence  parties,  camped  in 
thetimber  near  Ottawa  Jones'. 

I  make  this  statement  at  the  urgent 
request  of  my  friends  and  neighbors, 
Judge  James  Hanway  and  Hon.  Johnson 
Clarke,  who  have  been  present  during 
all  the  time  occupied  in  writing  it  out, 
and  in  whose  hearing  it  has  been  several 
times  read  before  signing. 

JAMES  TOWNSLEY. 

LANE,  Kan.,  Dec.  6,  1879. 


CONFIRMATORY  LETTER  FROM  COL.WALKER. 

LAWRENCE,  Kan.,  Dec.  21,  1879. 
DR.  G.  W.  BROWN — Dear  Sir : — I  have 
just  read  your  article  in  your  John 
Brown  series,  entitled  "Another  Inva 
sion."  You  are  correct  in  your  state 
ment  that  Maj.  Abbott  was  in  command 
on  the  day  you  mention.  He  was  ap- 
po;nted  officer  of  the  day  on  the  13th, 
and  was  not  relieved  on  Sunday  morn 
ing,  the  14th,  as  Gen.  Lane  was  away, 
and  no  one  was  named  to  succeed  him. 
When  news  came  in  on  Sunday  that  the 
jnemy  was  moving  on  Lawrence,  Maj. 
Abbott  asked  me  what  he  should  do.  I 
told  him  to  keep  on  his  sash,  and  do  the 
best  he  could.  He  ordered  me  to  get 
what  mounted  men  I  could,  and  go  to 
Franklin, and  reconnoitre  in  that  direction 
and  gain  such  intelligence  as  I  could  of 
the  enemy's  movements.  All  the 
mounted  men  I  could  find  in  the  city 
numbered  only  ten.  When  we  started 
out  I  saw  your  sister,  Mrs.  Mandell,  with 
a  riile  in  her  hands. 


John  Brown  had  no  command  ut'  any 
kind  on  that  day.  The  me.i  with  me 
were  the  first  to  exchange  shots  with  the 
invaders.  Coming  back  we  met  the 
Stubbs,  under  Capt.  Crack  in,  marchii  g 
in  the  direction  from  which  we  can  e. 
The  next  morning  John  Br  >wn  was  g-  ne 
— no  one  knew  where. 

Gov.  Geary,  in  making  terms  with  the 
invading  forces,  consented  to  let  that 
portion  of  them  which  belonged  North, 
pass  through  the  city,  and  cross  the 
river  on  the  ferry.  When  Maj.  Abbott 
heard  of  it  he  came  to  me,  and  said  that 
it  would  never  do  to  let  the  d — d  skunks 
pass  through  the  city  in  triumph.  He 
and  I  mounted  our  horses  and  rode  to 
Gov.  Geary's  quarters,  on  the  hill,  and 
told  him  we  would  never  consent  to 
allow  an  armed  force  to  pass  through 
the  city — if  no  one  else  would  fire  on 
them  we  would,  and  thus  would  bring 
on  a  collision.  The  Governor  consulted 
with  Col.  Cooke,  and  the  latter  labored 
to  convince  us  that  the  Governor  was 
right.  But  we  refused  to  yield.  The 
Governor  finally  issued  an  order,  which 
was  executed  by  an  orderly,directing  the 
party  to  pass  up  the  California  road.  The 
murder  of  Buffum  was  the  result.  ^ 

At  the  erection  of  John  Brown's  monu 
ment  I  heard  Senator  Ingals  say,  in  his 
speech,  "that  John  Brown  and  no  one 
else  saved  Lawrence  on  that  occasion; 
that  John  Brown  was  in  command ;  and 
but  for  him  it  would  have  been  destroyed." 
The  facts  are  just  as  you  have  stated : 
Gov.  Geary  and  Col.  Cooke  saved  Law 
rence. 

Public  opinion  is  changing  here,  not 
withstanding  Speer  and  Hanway  are 
going  for  you.  I  expect  you  will  go  for 
us  all,  but  let  the  facts  come  out.  It  is 
better  for  all  parties.  I  could  tell  you 
many  things  confirmatory  of  your  state 
ments  in  regard  to  old  John  Brown,  as 
well  as  additional  thereto. 

I  remain  as  ever,     Yours, 

SAMUEL  WALKER. 


JOHN  BROWN'S  FRAUDULENT  CABIN 

[SEE  PAGE  50.] 


REVIEW. 


As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  this  APPENDIX,  I  add  a  REVIEW,  by  Hon.  ELI  THAYER, 
of  Massachusetts.  No  person  watched  with  greater  interest  than  he  every  movement  in 
Kansas  while  freedom  and  slavery  were  at  issue  in  that  Territory.  That  the  reader  may 
the  better  comprehend  the  stand-point  from  which  Mr.  T.  writes,  he  will  allow  me  briefly 
to  state,  that  in  1854  he  was  a  Representative  from  the  city  of  Worcester,  in  the  Massa 
chusetts  Legislature.  In  January  of  that  year,  Mr.  T.  devised  the  plan  of  the  Emigrant 
Company,  and  in  February  went  with  his  charter,  before  the  Judiciary  Committee,  of 
which  Judge  Colt,  now  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  was  Chairman.  Mr. 
Thayer  said  in  substance  before  the  Committee,  that  the  Kansas- Nebraska  bill  was  sure 
to  become  a  law  ;  that  the  country  ought  to  be  prepared  for  it ;  that  the  decisive  struggle 
between  freedom  and  slavery  was  about  to  transpire ;  that  for  many  years  this  contest 
had  been  carried  on  in  Congress,  with  invariable  triumph  for  slavery,  and  invariable  de 
feat  for  freedom  ;  that  it  was  time  to  change  the  battle  ground,  and  we  must  be  ready  to 
try  the  issue  on  the  prairies  ;  that  if  the  South  gave  us  fair  play,  our  superior  strength 
and  power  of  organization  would  give  us  certain  victory  ;  that  if  slavery  would  not  allow 
us  fair  play  we  were  a  thousand  times  more  certain  to  triumph,  for  while  the  North  was 
always  willing  to  endure  the  aggressions  of  slavery,  if  made  according  to  law,  she  would 
crush  all  such  as  were  made  contrary  to  law  ;  that  the  granting  of  the  charter  would  be 
the  overthrow  of  slavery,  by  making  Kansas  free,  and  by  securing  freedom  to  all  our* 
other  territories.  Thus  the  political  power  of  slavery  would  be  ended,  and,  speedily,  its 
life.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  became  a  law  on  the  3Oth  of  Mav  following.  Mr.  T. 
had  been  several  months  in  the  field,  and  had,  through  the  press  and  forum,  thoroughly 
aroused  the  New  England  States.  He  was  made  President  of  the  Emigrant  Aid  Com 
pany,  and  traveled  from  city  to  city,  addressing  the  assembled  thousands  ;  entrancing 
them  with  his  powerful  eloquence,  and  arousing  the  people  to  a  full  consciousness  of  their 
danger  and  duty.  He  induced  capitalists  to  subscribe  largely  to  the  stock  of  the  Com 
pany,  to  enable  it  to  encourage  the  humble  pioneer,  who,  stimulated  by  a  similar  zeal  for 
the  right,  should  go  forward,  and  by  actual  settlement  in  the  Territory,  contribute  his 
share  towards  developing  its  resources,  and  in  "laying  deep  and  broad  the  foundations  of 
an  empire  which  shall  be  sacred  to  freedom." 

With  funds  thus  raised,  cheap  rates  of  travel  were  established  ;  large  parties  were 
enabled  to  travel  together  for  mutual  aid  and  protection  ;  cities  were  projected  and  located; 
the  press  was  encouraged  ;  saw-mills  and  hotels  were  built ;  lumber  was  furnished  at 
moderate  prices  ;  and  the  destitute  were  frequently  given  employment ;  while  worthy 
agents  were  kept  on  the  alert,  watching  with  paternal  care  the  development  of  the  infant 
colonies  ;  and,  more  than  all,  were  continually  active  with  pamphlets,  circulars,  news- 


78  REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 

papers,  memorials  to  Congress,  and  public  addresses,  in  building  up  and  sustaining  a 
powerful  sympathizing  and  favorable  opinion  in  the  States. 

Mr.  Thajer  was  the  founder,  proprietor,  and  principal  of  the  Oread  Institute,  in 
Worcester,  a  Seminary  for  the  education  of  young  ladies.  This  he  neglected,  to  his 
serious  pecuniary  loss,  to  give  his  great  labors  to  the  welfare  of  the  future,  by  excluding 
slavery  and  its  blighting  influences  from  the  plains  of  Kansas. 

When  mob  violence  destroyed  Lawrence,  the  Emigrant  Aid  Company,  with  its  organ 
ized  capital  and  energy,  to  give  cheer  to  the  settlers,  set  itself  at  work  to  speedily  re-erect 
that  which  was  demolished.  When  arms  were  needed  for  defence,  careful  that  the 
Company,  as  such,  should  commit  no  breach  of  rights,  its  members,  in  their  individual 
capacity,  promptly  contributed  of  their  means,  the  necessary  monev  to  buy  and  ship 
them  to  Kansas. 

In  the  darkest  hour,  when  others  despiared  of  success,  Mr.  Thayer  was  full  of  hope  ; 
wrote  cheerful  words  of  encouragement ;  and  assured  all  that  the  result  would  be  fully 
satisfactory. 

Like  the  great  mass  of  the  active  friends  of  Kansas  in  the  Eastern  States,  Mr.  Thajer 
wasdeceived  by  placing  confidence  in  the  representations  of  old  John  Brown.  Ignorant 
of  the  full  facts  until  years  after,  Mr.  T.  contributed  largely  of  his  private  means  to  aid 
the  old  man  in  his  insurrectionary  movements. 

If  Mr.  Thayer  expresses  himself  forcibly,  in  hostility  to  old  John  Brown,  the  reader 
will  observe  that  he  was  induced,  by  falsehood,  to  furnish  arms  to  be  used  in  a  rebellion 
against  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  ;  that  Hon.  Gerritt  Smith  was  driven  to 
insanity,  when  he  learned  of  the  abuse  made  of  his  money  and  confidence  furnished  in 
the  same  direction  ;  and  that  Mr.  T.  felt  that  he  was  highly  censurable  fcr  reposing  confi 
dence  in  his  integrity.  But  I  am  detaining  the  reader  quite  too  long  with  this  introduction  : 


"One  of  that  saintly,  murderous  br.ood, 
"To  carnage  and  the  Koran  given, 
"Who  think  through  unbelievers'  blood 
"Lies  their  directest  path  to  heaven.11 

G.  W.  BROWN,  M.  D. —  DEAR  SIR  : — Every  lover  of  historical  truth  owes  you  a 
debt  of  gratitude,  for  your  fearless  and  manly  review  of  the  history  of  John  Brown  in 
Kansas.  You  have  followed  the  guidance  of  facts  to  their  logical  and  indisputable  con 
clusions,  unterrified  by  denunciation  and  abuse,  unmoved  by  the  sickly  protests  and  the 
sickening  entreaties  of  the  sentimental  worshippers  of  the  subject  of  your  sketch.  That 
a  man  so  narrow  and  bigoted  as  he,  so  ignorant  and  deceptive,  so  ferocious  and  malig 
nant,  should  have  been  puffed  into  the  semblance  of  a  moral  hero,  or  inflated  to  the 
majestic  stature  of  a  god,  is  one  of  the  greatest  wonders  of  this  wonderful  century. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Kansas  that  John  Brown  did  not  enter  her  borders  till  the  time  had 
passed  when  he,  or  any  other  man,  could  have  changed  her  destiny.  Had  he  come  one 
vear  earlier,  his  blind  ferocity,  and  unreasoning  hatred  of  slave-holders,  might  have  sub 
jected  our  infant  colonies  to  retaliatory  acts  by  Missourians,  which  they  would  have  been 
powerless  either  to  resist  or  avert. 

Still  more  fortunate  would  it  have  been  for  that  afflicted  Territory  if  he  had  never  come 
at  all.  He  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  Free  State  settlers,  and  came,  not  as  they, 
to  make  a  free  State,  but  to  incite  a  Northern  rebellion  against  the  government  of  the 
Union.  He  confessed  his  failure  to  accomplish  that  purpose,  and  left  the  Territory  after 
he  had  been  entreated  to  do  so  by  Gov.  Crawford,  and  other  prominent  Free  State  men. 
The  busy  pens  of  a  few  Northern  disunionists  recorded  his  departure  as  a  great  loss  to  the 
Free  State  Council  !  When  was  John  Brown  ever  seen  in  Council  ?  When  was  his 


REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD' JOHN  BRCfWN.  79 

advice  on  public  measures  ever  solicited  ?  Did  President  Lincoln  ask  the  counsel  of  Tom 
Hyer,  the  pugilist,  concerning  the  war  of  the  Union  ? 

According  to  Mr.  Redpath,  John  Brown  despised  Councils,  but  was  always  ready  to 
figh't.  In  Dickens'  "Domby  &  Son"  appears  a  like  character, — Chicken,  the  boxer, — 
whose  only  inquiry  was  always  :  "Is  there  any  body  to  be  doubled  up  ?"  In  studying  the 
method  of  "doubling  up"  somebody  John  Brown  found  "scope  and  verge  enough"  for  all 
his  intellectual  ability.  He  could  not  have  understood,  if  he  would,  the  philosophy  of 
that  organization  which  made  Kansas  a  free  State,  and  which,  from  its  first  action,  gave 
assurance  of  its  ultimate  success,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  law  and  the  Constitution. 

As  the  case  now  stands,  but  little  more  may  be  said  of  John  Brown.  No  one  need 
paint  again  the  ghastly  picture  on  the  Pottawotomie  !  Five  unarmed  men,  taken  from 
their  homes  at  midnight,  and  murdered  in  cold  blood  !  The  supplicating  agony  of  wives 
and  children,  soon  changing  to  the  despairing  wail  of  widows  and  orphans  !  Five  dead 
bodies  lying  unattended  on  the  bleak  prairie,  with  heads  split  open,  hands  cut  off, 
breast  and  jaws  punctured,  and  the  curdling  blood  crying  from  the  ground  for  vengeance  ! 
An  appalling  scene  !  One  more  hideous  than  this  could  scarcely  be  presented  to  mortal 
eye.  Friends  and  eulogists  can  never  palliate,  or  explain  away,  the  damning  infamy  and 
fiendish  atrocity  of  the  doers  of  this  horrid  work.  As  that  picture  is  now  presented,  so  it 
must  remain  forever  !  Invincible  truth  will  be  its  keeper,  and  no  friend  of  the  great 
criminal  can  throw  light  on  its  deep  shadows,  or  erase  a  single  one  of  its  loathsome 
features.  Neither  can  it  be  made  worse.  The  concentrated  malice  of  all  Brown's  ene 
mies,  with  unlimited  license  to  do  their  will,  could  add  nothing  to  its  overwhelming 
horrors  !  No  one  need  again  expose  to  public  execration  that  merciless  tyranny  which 
drove  one  of  his  sons  through  murder  to  insanity,  and  two  others  through  treason  to 
death  ! 

In  that  brief  portion  of  Brown's  history  which  is  before  the  public,  there  are  some  cases 
of  "conspicuous  inexactness,"  which  contrast  very  strikingly  with  that  "eminent  truthful 
ness,"  so  fervidly  described  and  so  tenaciously  dwelt  upon  by  his  admiring  eulogists  : 

i.'  He  told  F.  B.  Sanborn  and  many  others  that  he  was  not  present  at  the  Pottawoto 
mie  massacre.  It  is  proved  that  he  was  present  as  commander  of  the  midnight  assassins. 

2.  He  repeatedly  affirmed  that  he  took  no  part  in  the  killing,  though  he  approved  of  it. 
It  is  proved  that  he  slew  with  his  own  hands  one  of  the  hapless  and  helpless  victims  ! 

3.  He  asserted  that  in  his  Missouri  raid  he  liberated  several  slaves  without  bloodshed 
and  without  the  use  of  weapons.     It  is  in  proof  that  one  respectable  and  quiet  farmer  was 
murdered  in  that  raid,  by  one  of  Brown's  men. 

4.  Before  his  attack  upon  the  United  States'  arsenal,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  he  spent  several 
weeks  in  Virginia.     He  pretended  to  be  a  mineralogist,  and  went  about  with  a  hammer 
breaking  off  the  corners  of  rocks.     Under  the  pretext  of  seeking  for  copper  he  found 
opportunities  for  trying  to  enlist  slaves  in  his  little  rebellion.     These  facts  were  narrated 
to  me  by  a  representative  in  Congress  from  the  Harper's  Ferry  district. 

5.  The  surveyor  trick  is  already  well  understood.     It  was  of  the  same  charact* 
his  mineralogical  observations. 

6  While  he  was  in  Massachusetts,  in  iS57-'5S,  I  repeatedly  heard  him  recite  his  Cap 
ture  of  Henry  Clay  Pate."  He  gave  the  same  rendition  of  that  highly  interesting  story 
several  times  a  day  while  he  was  here,  describing  the  same  incidents  with  minute  exactness 
in  the  same  identical  language.  The  substance  of  his  narrative  was,  that  he  met  Clay  Pate 
on  the  open  prairie  ;  that  he  had  nine  men  on  foot,  and  Pate  twenty-seven  on  horse-back, 
and  that  he  captured  Pate  and  his  entire  command.  When  asked  why  Pate  did  not 
wheel  about  and  ride  away,  Brown  said  :  "We  received  three  rounds  without  harm  from 
Pate's  men  while  marching  towards  them.  We  then  fired  and  two  or  three  of  Pate  s 
men  fell  from  their  horses.  Then  they  all  seemed  stupefied.  Leaving  my  men  I  went 
oer  to  Pate  and  held  my  pistol  to  his  head  commanding  him  to  surrender.  He  sun-end- 


8o  REMINISCENCES  OF  OLD  JOHN  BROWN. 

ered  !"  Then  followed  the  clinching  pantomime  of  drawing  from  one  of  his  boots  a  huge 
bowie  knife  with  the  name  of  Pate  engraved  upon  the  handle.  No  allusion  was  ever 
made  in  these  recitals,  in  my  hearing,  to  Capt.  Shore,  or  Capt.  Mewhinny,  or  to  their 
men.  It  may  be  his  "kindness  of  heart"  restrained  any  utterance  which  might  have 
exposed  the  two  Captains,  and  thetr  companies,  to  retaliatory  measures  from  Missouri. 

7.  The  writer's  confidence  has  been  many  times  abused,  but  never  in  any  other  instance' 
so  grossly  and  wickedly  abused  as  by  John  Brown.  Not  long  before  his  attack  on  the 
United  States  arsenal  he  came  to  my  house  to  ask  for  arms,  with  which,  he  said, 
he  intended  to  protect  some  Free  State  settlements  in  Kansas,  against  an  invasion  of 
Border  Ruffians,  at  that  very  time  in  process  o  preparation.  He  would  not  tell  me 
how  he  had  ascertained  the  fact  of  the  intended  raid,  or  what  was  the  proof  of  it.  He 
said  he  knew  it  and  would  like  to  be  prepared  to  save  our  settlements.  I  gave  him  all 
the  arms  I  had.  I  did  not  hear  of  him,  or  the  arms  in  Kansas,  or  of  any  invasion  of 
Border  Ruffians,  but  I  did  hear  of  his  attack  upon  the  United  States'  Arsenal,  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  -with  these  identical  arms,  which  were  there  captured.  In  this  way  he  made  my 
devotion  to  the  free  State  settlements  in  Kansas,  serve  to  aid  and  abet  his  own  Treason 
in  Virginia.  Had  he  told  me  the  TRUTH,  effective  measures  would  have  been  taken  to 
prevent  his  suicidal  and  murderous  work.  When  the  end  justifies  the  means  lying  may 
be  a  holy  vocation  ! 

So  in  all  these  transactions  John  Brown  may  have  thought  he  was  doing  God's  service. 
Ignorant,  infatuated,  intolerant, — the  ripest  growth  of  Garrisonian  disunionism, — he  had 
the  daring  to  do  what  the  others  of  his  school  had  only  courage  to  resolve,  to  wit :  that,, 

"The  time  has  fully  come  for  the  people  to  practically  assert  their  right  of  revolution." 

John  Brown  threw  away  his  life  in  a  futile  effort  to  translate  into  heroic  deeds  the 
graceless  gabble  of  a  few  Northern  Secessionists.  Stimulated  by  their  sentiments,  and 
exasperated  almost  to  frenzy  by  his  attempts  and  failures  in  Kansas  to  sustain  them,  he 
determined  to  rush,  single-handed,  against  the  power  of  the  United  States.  Cervantes 
himself  never  wrote  any  thing  one-half  so  Quixotic.  If  John  Brown  did  not  know  that 
this  was  suicide  he  knew  less  than  any  other  sane  man  in  the  country.  But  it  was  suicide, 
such  as  might  be  supposed  to  have  attractions  for  a  man  of  his  obstinate  ambition  and 
adverse  experience.  It  was  suicide,  to  be  justified  by  the  teachings  of  disunion  societies  ; 
to  be  sanctified  by  its  simulation  of  martyrdom;  to  be  glorified  by  all  the  abolition  seces 
sionists  in  the  free  States. 

Some  charitable  people  say  that  our  "hero"  was  insane,  but  there  seems  to  have  been 
"too  much  method  for  madness."  His  disease  appears  to  have  been  rather  moral  than 
mental,  and  of  that  kind  that  could  not  have  been  economically  cured  in  any  swine-pro 
ducing  country  near  the  sea.  But  whether  sane,  or  insane,  he  acted  well  the  part^of 
heavy  villain  in  the  Kansas  drama.  Now  "his  soul  goes  marching  on  !  "  Well,  let  it 
march — until  it  shall  become  infinitely  remote  ! 

WORCESTER,  Mass.,  Jan.  i3th,  1880.  ELI  THAYER. 


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INDEX. 


DEDICATION,  v 

Introduction,  vi 

Correspondence,  vi 

Prefatory,  3 

Explanatory,  4 
First  notice  of  John  Brown  in  Kan.  His.,  5 

Acquaintance  with  the  Sons,  6 

The  Wakarusawar,  6 

John  Brown  in  Lawrence,  7 

Capt.  Charley  Lenhart,  9 

Personal  to  the  writer,  9 

History  of  a  revolver,  n 

Sacking  of  Lawrence — Arrests,  12 
Horrible  murders  on  the  Pottawotomie,   12 

Details  of  the  massacre,  13 

Incidents  of  history,  14 
Who  was  responsible  for  the  massacre,     16 

Further,  who  was  responsible,  17 

Newly  discovered  evidence,  19 

Terrible  arraignment,  20 

Motive  for  the  killing,  21 

Too  good  to  murder,  22 
Effect  of  massacre  on  Free  State  praty,     22 

Effect  not  limited  to  Kansas,  26 

The  Summer  of  1856,  27 

John  Brown's  biographer,  28 

John  Brown,Jr.,  30 

Gov.  Geary,  32 

A  crisis  approaching,  32 

Another  invasion,  33 

Federal  interposition,  34 

The  pro-slavery  account,  36 

Redpath's  statement,  36 

Capt.  Brown's  statement,  38 


An  interlude, 

A  strange  coincidence, 

Further  strategy, 

An  exciting  incident, 

The  terrible  fate  of  a  typo, 

Brewerton, 

A  first  class  bore, 

The  letter-writers, 

John  Brown's  cabin  a  fraud, 

The  home  of  John  Brown, 

A  glance  in  passing, 

Return  to  Kansas, 

An  important  letter, 

Kansas  too  hot  for  him, 

Osawotomie  Brown, 

Not  all  bad, 

Confirmation, 

The  clincher, 

Chance  for  correction, 

Corrections, 

The  fly  on  the  locomotive, 

Hero  worship, 

Conclusion, 

APPENDIX, 

Letter  of  Mr.  Thayer, 

Letter  of  Gov.  Crawford, 

Potawoto'e  massacre,  Col.  Blood's  letter, 

Statement  of  the  Grants, 

Were  they  mutilated, 

Mr.  Townsley's  statement, 

Confirmatory  letter  of  Col.  Walker, 

REVIEW, 

Introductory  notice  of  Mr.  Thayer, 

Eli  Thayer's  Review, 


ILLUSTRATIONS: 


CAPT.  JOHN  BROWN, 
JOHN  BROWN'S  FRAUDULENT  CABIN, 
FRENCH  MEDAL  TO  THE  BROWN  FAMILY 


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HftR25'67-H/\M 


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U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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